


Whatever It Takes

by emquin



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Dad!Tony, Gen, Peter Parker Feels, Peter needs a father figure, slight canon changes, there are hello kitty pajamas involved, this is probably going to end up being Stony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2018-12-04 22:45:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11564895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emquin/pseuds/emquin
Summary: It isn't easy being Spider-Man, but having Tony Stark in his corner makes it just that much easier.





	1. Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't think I'd be writing fic again so soon but Peter and Tony just gave me so many feels after Homecoming that I just had to. Also, I was inspired by the Hello Kitty pajamas and really I just went with it and found myself 5k words later not sure where it was going. This will probably have a few more parts but I do think this first part can also be read as a stand alone.
> 
> The title of this is inspired by Imagine Dragons' song Whatever It Takes.
> 
> Enjoy.

The worst part about the whole ordeal was that Mr. Stark didn’t even offer him a ride. Peter had to only assume that it was part of the punishment. No, it definitely had to have been a part of the punishment especially since Mr. Stark had picked out Hello Kitty pajamas for him and what could have only been the lamest NYC tourist t-shirt in size XL. At least he was in NYC and no one really cared what he was wearing as he made his way home. Peter was too upset about letting down Mr. Stark and getting everything wrong to care about any stares he might have gotten on the subway at any rate. He had just – he had messed up so badly when all he wanted was to prove himself and show Mr. Stark, and Happy for that matter, that he could handle being a Superhero. Of course it had blown up on him. He should have known that despite everything Mr. Stark wouldn’t ignore any information that Peter brought his way. 

Then, when he finally made it home there was Aunt May to deal with. She worried, Peter knew, but her anger justified as it was, had faded the moment she realized that Peter needed a shoulder to lean on and not to be questioned about his whereabouts and why he’d lacked the responsibility to get in touch with her. Peter hadn’t been sure if it felt worse to disappoint Aunt May or Mr. Stark. They both felt about the same. 

“And why are you wearing Hello Kitty pajamas again?” May asked when Peter had calmed down enough from the ordeal that had been his day. 

“My clothes got ruined,” Peter said, “this is what Mr. Stark got me to wear home.”

He could tell that she had more questions. Peter would have had more questions. Instead, because she was May, all she had to say on the matter was: “Okay. I guess I like this idol of yours just a little bit more even if you lost the internship.”

“So now you like him,” Peter said.

“He was growing on me,” May said and moved into the kitchen to prepare dinner. 

Peter shook his head. “No, he wasn’t,” he said. 

“No,” she admitted, “but I liked how good this internship was for you even if you were too busy than you should be at your age.”

His stomach churned with the lie and he wanted to tell her and spill everything but he knew that it would change things between them to an extent. May would be upset and scared and she might wrap him up in bubble wrap and a blanket and never let him out of her sight. Peter’s parents had died when he was so young that May was really the only mother figure he’d ever had and she was a mom in every sense of the word down to how much she loved him and Peter just knew that things wouldn’t ever be the same when she found out that he was Spider-Man. 

Peter hated how comfortable the Hello Kitty pajamas were. He didn’t even bother changing out of them due to their comfort but he ditched the t-shirt for one that actually fit and was less touristy. He tried not to think about the ferry and the winged guy or even Mr. Stark, but it was hard. Peter had just messed up so badly and he was lucky that everyone had gotten out of it alive. 

He was just about to rejoin May in the kitchen when his laptop made a sound. He lifted the lid and found a Skype call. He answered it out of sheer curiosity. Mr. Stark stared back at him. 

“You made it home alive,” he said, “good.”

“Um, Mr. Stark?” Peter asked and then paused – “Why are you Skyping me?”

Mr. Stark looked unkempt. Peter couldn’t really tell where he was, but his hair was askew and his face seemed to be smudged with something black. 

“I – well – I wanted to be sure you made it home and that you weren’t stolen by a tourist family,” Mr. Stark said, somewhat awkwardly. 

“Oh,” Peter said, “well I did. Make it home, that is. I – I really am sorry, Mr. Stark, I didn’t think I was in over my head and I didn’t think you – well, I wasn’t sure if you heard me about the weapons and everything because Happy really doesn’t seem to listen when I call. I mean, he rarely answers me back and today was a disaster and I’m just really sorry.”

Mr. Stark didn’t say anything for a while and then he sighed. “Happy will pick you up from school tomorrow.”

It seemed to be the end of their talk. Peter nodded. “Okay,” he said, “sure.”

“And, Peter,” Tony said, “you are better than me, already, kid. You are so much better than I ever was at your age but you’re fifteen and I don’t want—” He coughed “—I don’t want you to end up like me.”

He hung up before Peter could respond. So Peter just said it to himself and his empty room. “But you’re amazing, Mr. Stark. You’re better than anyone I know.”

\---

Tony slumped against the work table in his workshop. He dropped his phone on the surface of the table and sighed. Tony was still upset. He was angry and frustrated and mostly just worried that he had made a mistake when recruiting Spider-Man. He was just a kid. Tony had to remind himself that it wouldn’t have stopped Peter from continuing to be Spider-Man and that taking away his suit now probably wouldn’t stop him either. 

Peter’s suit was out on the table in front of him and Tony hadn’t been able to help himself from poking around the suit and improving on some of the features and fixing others. He replaced the tracker and added two extras just in case. Then, he went through the surveillance. A combination of Friday and the AI in the suit, filtered everything Tony wanted to see. Some of it he had viewed in the past when checking up on the kid, but not any of the recent stuff. 

Watching how things got out of hand with the ferry made Tony cringe. They were lucky that Tony had realized what was happening and that he was near a suit and capable of getting there in time. Tony was also glad that he had gone there himself instead of just sending one of the suits because he could still remember the look on Peter’s face when he wasn’t in the suit the last time. That just couldn’t have been helped, though, Tony had been out of the country. There were just so many things falling on his shoulders and no one else to really deal with all the fall out. 

Of course, then Tony had had to tell him off. Tony had been so angry and scared not just because it was all on him, but because he could have lost Peter. He could have lost Peter to overwhelming guilt or just straight up lost him entirely and Tony didn’t think he could handle that. Peter was just so young and so absolutely smart and full of potential and Tony cared about him. 

“Did I do the right thing?” Tony asked out loud.

“About what, sir?” Friday asked.

“Peter. Taking away his suit. If he’s just going to go back out there then what difference does it make if he doesn’t have my tech? Maybe – maybe it will mean he can’t survive something when he gets in over his head and he’ll be hard to keep track of and—”

“Parenting, it seems, is very difficult,” Friday responded. 

Tony groaned. When had he become a parent? Still, Friday was right. It was hard and Tony had never expected to need to deal with it and yet despite knowing this kid for a very short period of time, he had crawled into the list of people that Tony cared about and settled himself there permanently. Tony had the whole night to think about the suit and if he was going to give it back. He had until he saw Peter again. First, he needed a drink, and it was only going to be one. 

\---

Flash saw him getting into the Rolls Royce that Happy drove and Peter saw him stop to stare for a while before beginning to motion to one of his friends to the car. Peter rolled his eyes. He knew he would hear all about it the next day. 

“Hey, kid,” Happy said.

“Hi, Happy,” Peter said and dropped his backpack on the seat next to him.

“How was school?”

Peter shrugged. “Same as it always is,” he said and stared out the window as they drove away. 

Peter felt awkward – not that he didn’t feel awkward most of the time – but he felt somehow worse after everything that had gone down the day before. Happy probably knew all about it. 

The drive at least wasn’t too long and when they got to Avengers tower, Happy took the car into the underground parking which was surprisingly devoid of any other cars. 

“Just take the elevator up,” Happy said, “I have other things to take care of but Friday will show you the way.”

Peter had never been to Avengers tower even though of course he knew exactly where the building was. He walked hesitantly to where Happy pointed and the elevator doors opened for him at once. Behind him he heard Happy leave and he stepped inside. 

“Hello, Mr. Parker,” a voice that sounded a bit like Karen’s, said. It had to belong to Friday. 

“Hi,” Peter said. 

“Mr. Stark is waiting for you in the workshop,” Friday said and then the elevator began to move. 

It didn’t take long to get to the workshop and when Peter exited the elevator he found himself in a small hall. At one end there were stairs, but across from the elevator was glass walls that showed into what must have been the workshop. Tony Stark was inside turned away from Peter and leaning to look at something. 

“Would you like me to inform Mr. Stark that you are here?” Friday asked, startling Peter. 

“Oh, um, sure,” Peter said. 

A moment later Mr. Stark looked up and he walked over to open the glass door that Peter hadn’t seen. 

“Peter,” Mr. Stark said, “nice to see you in normal clothes for once.”

Peter looked down at what he was wearing. Jeans and a plain t-shirt. He glanced back up at Mr. Stark but he was motioning for him to walk into the workshop. 

Seeing it from outside the glass had been one thing, but when he walked inside, Peter was in awe. The room was everything that anyone with even a little penchant for science and engineering would dream about and of course Tony Stark had all the latest technologies and basically anything else that he might need. 

Then something beeped at him and an actual robot had rolled over to him and Peter could only stare. 

“Peter, meet Dum-E.”

Peter reached out and Dum-E bumped his claw into his hand gently, almost like a fist bump. He beeped again multiple times and Mr. Stark actually laughed. 

“Well, he likes you,” Mr. Stark said and walked closer. Dum-E beeped again. “That doesn’t mean that you were being useful before.”

His next beep was a bit sadder. 

Mr. Stark pat the robot and it rolled away to join another. 

“Dum-E was my first attempt at a learning artificial intelligence,” Tony admitted, “but in the end he’s just an almost helpful extra arm but he was my basis for Jarvis and then Friday and Jocasta and even the AI I put into your suit.” 

“Karen,” Peter said.

“Who?” 

“That’s what I called the AI in my suit,” Peter said and looked away from Mr. Stark to keep some composure. 

He distracted himself with the rest of the workshop. In a corner of the room, Peter even spotted stuff that belonged to the other Avengers including what appeared to be Captain America’s actual shield. Peter considered for a moment walking over to look at it closer but it seemed to him that Mr. Stark had put those things as far away from everything else for a reason. 

Either way, Peter was distracted when he saw his own Spider-Man suit on the table that Tony had been bent over earlier. 

“I’ve been repairing it,” Mr. Stark said when he saw him looking.

“It wasn’t damaged,” Peter said. 

“Not yet,” Mr. Stark said and motioned for Peter to join him, “but it does need good maintenance and you removed the tracker.”

Peter sighed. “I had to. I was following up on a lead and it was the only way I could go.”

“Or,” Mr. Stark said, “you could have told Happy and we would have done something about it.”

Peter dropped his head. Being stuck in the DODC for as long as he had could have probably been prevented if he did, Peter realized, not to mention that Happy had been passing along his messages to Mr. Stark. Then, he could have even made the decathlon and not disappointed everyone. Maybe the whole elevator fiasco could have gone differently too. It was hard to say. 

Mr. Stark sat down on a stool and he motioned for Peter to grab another one. “I think,” he said, “that I was just a little bit too harsh on you yesterday. Peter, what you do and the way you care is amazing and that isn’t all just this suit. It’s you. I just have made a lot of mistakes and so has everyone else and I don’t want you to look back a few years from now with regret for all the wrong steps you take or to have guilt piled on your shoulders because no matter how hard you tried something went wrong and someone died. If I can prevent that, kid, I will, even if it means that I tell you to stay away from something that is clearly over your head. I just, I need you to keep me in the loop.”

Peter couldn’t find words. He just didn’t know that Mr. Stark cared that much. He tried to look at him, but his vision was blurry and it took him a moment to realize that he had tears in his eyes. Dum-E nudged him and Peter blinked. The bot had brought him a rag. It was dirty and covered in grease but Peter felt touched.

“Thank you,” he murmured. The bot beeped. 

Mr. Stark coughed awkwardly next to him and then stood up. “Anyway,” Mr. Stark said, “I’m willing to give you the suit back, Karen included, but training wheel protocol is back on and I get daily updates from you and Karen both. Also, I’ve replaced your tracker and if it ever goes off line again I will take the suit and destroy it.”

Peter couldn’t believe it. “Are you sure, Mr. Stark?” he asked. “Because you don’t have to. I know I messed up. I know that I disappointed you and that I messed up with the ferry and I probably bother Happy too much but—”

“I realized that to you it won’t matter if you have the high tech suit or those red and blue sweats with the goggles because you’ll go out there. I can’t stop you and neither can your aunt so I’d rather keep you safe.”

“Oh,” Peter said. 

Mr. Stark dropped a hand to Peter’s shoulder and he looked up. 

“Come on, you’re already here, so you might as well help me out with some of these upgrades.”

\---

Tony felt at peace with it when he finally went to bed that night. Peter had his suit back and Tony had Friday monitoring his every move when in the suit. At one point in the night he had even considered figuring out how to put a tracker on Peter himself for when he wasn’t in the suit but decided it would be just a tad too invasive. 

Tony felt all that more comfortable with Peter out in the suit. He thought that maybe things hadn’t ended in the best possible way when he and Happy dropped him off at home after Germany but then Tony hadn’t been in the right state of mind. It was so soon after Siberia and finding out that Steve had been keeping things from him and there had been just so many things that needed looking into that Tony probably hadn’t really put his all into watching out for the kid. He’d put Happy in charge of it and forgotten that Happy wasn’t exactly versed in dealing with the superhero kind on the daily basis and that Happy had a lot of other things on his plate that he would deem far more important. He should have handed the reigns over to Vision or Rhodey instead but Vision was acting odd and not exactly human and Rhodey had his legs and recovery to worry about. Tony had refused to put any more burdens on either of them and because of The Accords there was no one else. 

He slept better knowing that he and Peter finally had a talk of sorts and that Peter seemed to truly understand why Tony had been so upset with him. He was happy with the decision and he went to bed and tried not to think about all the other problems that he needed to deal with. 

The next morning Tony was in meetings all day. Some of them were SI related and others Avengers related. It was a long day and by the end of it, Tony wanted nothing more than to just hide out in his workshop and tinker on the new suit. 

He shouldn’t have been surprised when Peter showed up in the middle of it. He gave off nervous energy and seemed to move without knowing he was moving. 

“Friday, what happened?” Tony asked.

“Nothing that I am aware of, sir,” Friday said, “I don’t believe this is related to Spider-Man at all.”

Tony tried to stare Peter down. “Tell me what happened, kid.”

“I – I have – Liz Toomes is going to homecoming with me,” Peter said and looked incredulous.

Tony couldn’t help but laugh. Girl trouble, of course. 

“I just – I asked her and she said yes and I didn’t think she would. She’s a senior, you know, and she’s just cool and doesn’t hate me even though I’ve been flaking left and right but then she agreed to go with me and I have no idea what to do.”

He kept running his fingers through his hair and moving spastically as if he were a kid on a sugar high. 

“Am I supposed to be your new tailor or something, kid?” Tony asked, trying to break the tension. 

Peter stopped moving and he shook his head frantically. “No, no, not at all, Mr. Stark. I just didn’t know what to do and Aunt May can probably help me out but this is just so crazy and I can’t believe it’s happening, you know.”

Tony grabbed him by the shoulders before he started pacing again. “Kid…Peter, calm down. It was a joke.”

“Oh,” Peter said.

Tony didn’t know how he had ended up becoming the person that Peter went to when he had an issue that didn’t revolve around Spider-Man, but he found somehow that he appreciated being thought of as someone that could actually help. 

“Now, all I can really tell you is to be yourself and that you should practice dancing because you don’t want to step on her feet. If she said yes then she likes you, Peter, so you just have to have fun and let yourself relax. Okay?”

Peter nodded but Tony could tell that his mind was running through scenarios and who knows what else. 

“And we’ll see about clothes,” Tony added, “a different kind of suit might give you the confidence to not freak out that night.”

Peter blushed a little. “You don’t have to, Mr. Stark,” he said, “I’m sure Aunt May and I can find something for me to wear.”

“You came here, kid, this is how I operate. Friday, could you get Spiderling’s measurements to my tailor.”

\---

In the end, it didn’t matter that Mr. Stark returned the suit to him. It became useless when Peter left it home the night of homecoming. Mr. Stark had given him the idea, telling him that it was his night off to relax and have fun. He kept stressing that he would personally still be in NYC and so Peter had nothing to worry about. 

Of course, when Peter got dropped off at Liz’ house in the suit that Mr. Stark had personally delivered earlier in the night, he didn’t expect to come face to face with the winged man with all the alien tech. Liz’ father was the bad guy and Peter was so shaken by it that he couldn’t even manage to send Mr. Stark a text and then when he did think of doing it, they were in the car and Mr. Toomes seemed to be watching his every move even as he drove them to the dance. 

During their talk, where Toomes figured out who Peter was and warned him off, Peter even had to leave his phone behind in the car for a way to track Toomes so he couldn’t exactly get in touch with Mr. Stark or Happy that way and he knew that even though he’d promised to stay out of trouble that it had found him and Peter couldn’t just let something happen when he could stop it.

He hated telling Liz that he had to go and felt even worse because it was her dad that he’d be going after. 

Peter had his old suit stashed under some lockers so for lack of anything else he fetched that and Ned really became his guy in the chair. Peter set him on getting in contact with Happy even though he knew it’d be a long shot when it was Ned on the phone and not Peter, but Peter needed to go after Toomes. He couldn’t let him get away. 

Then, he was stuck under a building. Then, he was on the outside of a plane. Then, the plane crashed. Then, Peter saved Toomes and limping and bleeding he collected everything from the remains of the crash and webbed Toomes to it and left a note. He hung around long enough to see Happy get there and then he swung his way home and tried not to think about all his injuries or what Mr. Stark’s reaction might be to it all. 

\---

Moving day had meant that Tony was packing the bots to be driven over to Avengers Compound. It was a necessity of Tony being needed at the compound more than before and Tony just not feeling that great about the tower and all the memories that it held. When he was living there on his own things had been different because the Avengers were just a drive away and Tony didn’t mind that they weren’t there anymore. Ever since The Accords and that mess Tony had felt their lack of presence everywhere he looked so instead he set about renovating the compound and deciding that he might as well move in too and bring all his things along which also meant all of their things and the Shield things and the alien things. 

Still, Tony had felt confident that despite how busy he was that Peter would get to enjoy the night without being bothered. He had taken a break to drop of the kid’s homecoming suit earlier and stuck around to see him put it on while May got teary eyed and took pictures of everything.

Tony had been only a little surprised when Peter turned to him with his tie. 

“We – um – we tried to figure it out but the small part always ends up being longer. Could you…I mean you wear ties all the time so—”

Tony had felt somehow honored that Peter was asking him even though of course he was aware that there literally was no one else for him to ask except his aunt who was watching them from the kitchen with a strange almost melancholy look. 

Tony had tied his tie for him and fixed it until it was just right and if he felt a pang of pride watching Peter turn around to look at himself in the mirror he tried not to show it. 

When May went to the bathroom, Tony told Peter to leave the Spider-Man suit behind. 

“You’re wearing a different type of suit tonight, kid,” he told him, “and I’m around to make sure things go alright tonight so it’s not on you. This night is for you. You get to be a kid and enjoy homecoming with a girl you like and your friends. That’s what you do tonight.”

So, Tony had Friday keeping a watch for anything strange and crime related and had a suit on hand. Somehow, it wasn’t until Friday mentioned a building collapse that Tony began to suspect that something was awry. 

He had gone to check it out but it was all rubble. The few walls left standing gave him nothing, but a few of the remaining things told him that this had been the place where Peter’s bad guy was operating from. 

Tony spent some time looking through what he could until Happy sent him a message that the plane was on its way. Nothing had gone wrong, then. Happy was personally seeing to the plane’s tracker and then sending out the more important stuff in the car that Vision was driving to the compound. 

Friday didn’t alert him to any more activity and Tony decided that the flying guy had probably destroyed the place on purpose. He made sure Friday alerted DODC to check the place out and then walked back outside. 

He went back to the tower to finish packing up the last of his workshop as well as the lab in the floor underneath his that had gone untouched since Bruce’s disappearance. 

Friday didn’t alert him to anything being wrong for another fifteen minutes when Happy called and she was already showing him that the plane had gone down at Coney Island. 

“Shit,” Tony said. 

“I think the kid’s there,” Happy said, “I think his friend called for him and was trying to tell me about something going on with the plane.”

Friday brought up his tracker immediately but the suit was offline and there was nothing to track. It gave Tony only the slightest bit of hope that Peter was still at the dance and that this was an entirely unrelated situation. 

“The DODC is headed there,” Happy informed him. “I will go myself and make sure everything is accounted for and brought back here or to the compound.”

Tony nodded. There wasn’t much more for Iron Man to do and showing up just to check for Peter felt like it would put more of a spotlight on something that didn’t need it. The plane’s destruction would be given an excuse but if he showed up then it would destroy any of that. The public needed to have the right perception of superheroes at the moment due to all the business with The Accords. The negotiations for amendments were going well but anything could change that. 

Still, Tony couldn’t stay behind. He couldn’t be still. He got back in the suit and flew to Peter’s apartment. He didn’t go to the front door because he didn’t want to alert May to anything being wrong. It felt entirely different from hours earlier when he’d been there and walked in through the front door. This time Tony found Peter’s window. 

It was a crack open and Tony didn’t have a hard time getting it fully open and sneaking inside. 

Peter wasn’t there. Tony reminded himself that Peter could still be at the dance, that he could be awkwardly trying to talk to his date and making a fool out of himself. It was a low chance that’s what was happening, but Tony decided to wait anyway. He got out of the armor and let Friday take it out of the apartment. 

It didn’t take long for Peter to climb in through the window just like Tony had. He was in the old suit and he almost fell as soon as he was inside. He let out a low groan and Tony rushed to his side to support him. Peter jumped. 

“Mr. Stark,” he said, “what are you doing here?”

Tony took him to the bed and laid him down on the bottom bunk. 

“I’m checking up on you,” Tony said and tried not to upset any injuries as he helped Peter remove his mostly tattered and scorched makeshift suit – the one that he’d been using before Tony’s upgrade. “Why are you wearing these rags?”

“Left the other one here,” Peter said, “I had no time.”

Tony threw the rags away. Peter had cuts and bruises everywhere. His entire torso looked a mixture of blue, purple, green, and red. 

“You had your phone, didn’t you? Couldn’t call me or Happy?”

Peter groaned and Tony anxiously checked him over. There wasn’t anything that Peter’s metabolism and quick healing couldn’t handle and yet Tony wanted to make sure that Peter never suffered more than even a paper cut. 

Peter tried to get up but Tony pushed him back into the bed. “What do you need?” he asked. 

“I wanted my pajamas,” Peter said and pointed in the direction of his closet. 

Tony was surprised to find the Hello Kitty pants in there and he grabbed them mostly because he wanted to make the moment lighter but Peter just grabbed for them and Tony watched him put them on before passing him a t-shirt. 

“They’re actually really comfortable,” Peter said.

Tony shook his head. “What happened tonight?”

Peter covered his face with his hands while Tony grabbed Peter’s computer chair and sat down, rolling himself over to the bed. 

“So my date’s dad turned out to be the guy with the mechanical wings,” Peter said, “I went to her house and he opened the door and I should have just texted you or, I don’t know, done something. Anyway, he figured out I’m Spider-Man on the drive to the dance and then he sort of warned me off and told me to let him go but I couldn’t, okay. But his wife said he was going out of town so I knew there wasn’t going to be a better time to catch him and then I figured out that he was going to steal the stuff from the plane. Anyway, I left my phone in his car and I couldn’t get back here to get the suit or anything before he got away. Ned was tracking him and I borrowed Flash’s parent’s car and then Ned was supposed to call Happy but I think he was busy and we ended up crashing the plane but I saved Mr. Toomes and I left him there for the authorities to pick up.”

By the end of it Peter was shaking. He had gotten pale too and Tony couldn’t help but reach out and grab his hand. Tony had never been a hand holder but then Peter brought something out in Tony that just couldn’t be explained and Peter relaxed and Tony just held his hand. 

“You did good, Peter,” Tony said.

“I did?”

Tony smiled. “Yes. No death or great destruction and you handled yourself without all of my tech even if I wish you’d been wearing the suit. You did great. I don’t want you going after bad guys like this on your own again, but given the circumstances you did good.”

Watching him yawn as all of the adrenaline faded, Tony wondered if maybe Peter did deserve to be considered an Avenger. He was still very young but Tony knew that he needed to have Peter closer. He needed to be trained better and to stop ending up all on his own in dire situations. Tony didn’t necessarily think that adding him to a group that consisted of himself and Vision at the moment was the answer, but it might cool Peter’s need to prove himself and if nothing else it would keep Peter closer to where Tony could watch and protect him. On an added note, Peter was good PR. People loved Spider-Man. His addition to the team would be a boost as real conversations on changing The Accords continued. 

“Mr. Stark,” Peter said. His voice was full of sleep.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for looking out for me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> You can find this over at my tumblr as well: [Part One](http://inawickedlittletown.tumblr.com/post/163257603502/whatever-it-takes-1)


	2. Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for everyone's response to this. The kudos and the comments have been amazing!  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter.

“May knows.”

They were the first words out of the kid a few hours after he’d basically left Tony hanging when Tony had offered him a spot as an Avenger. Tony thought that it had probably had something to do with the kid not feeling like he was ready to be an actual Avenger. The whole engagement thing with Pepper was going to have consequences, he knew, especially since he and Pepper weren’t back together and only just getting back to good terms after the break up. There just hadn’t been anything else to announce. So, Tony had been surprised when Peter showed up back at the compound hours later. 

“Okay,” Tony said, “so she knows.”

Peter paced the floor. His hair was up in every direction. He looked agitated. 

“She yelled at me,” he said, “like properly screaming and crying and then afterward she locked herself in her room and I just – I left. I did leave her a note, you know, just so she doesn’t worry and I know she cares but this isn’t something she can understand and I –”

Tony stepped in his path and Peter almost ran into him. “First,” Tony said, “you’re starting to wear out my new floors and second she was going to find out eventually. I have met your aunt and she cares a whole lot about you, kid, and she isn’t going to hold this against you. She just needs some time to come to terms with it.”

Peter’s shoulders dropped and he looked up at Tony. “This just isn’t something she needs to deal with right now. She worries enough as it is.”

Tony shook his head a little. “She’s a parent,” he said, “and it won’t matter what you’re doing because she’ll be worried about you. Hey, I worry about you too.”

“You do,” Peter said and his tone was one of disbelief.

Tony nodded and before he could talk himself out of it, pulled Peter into a hug. He felt Peter relax into it and smiled. He didn’t know if the hug was more for him or for Peter but it didn’t really matter. 

When he pulled away, he turned and just steered Peter towards the kitchen. They were in the communal floor of the compound which Tony had separated as living space from the rest of the facilities except for the floor devoted to his workshop and the lab that really belonged more to Bruce for whenever he came home. 

He led Peter to the island and motioned for him to sit before walking over to the fridge. 

“I know from experience with enhanced individuals that you’re probably hungry,” Tony said, “but there’s really only water, a few soda cans, and some sort of soup looking thing so I think we should get pizza instead.”

“Um…Mr. Stark, you don’t have to—”

Tony leveled him with a look. “Unless you’re going home in the next few minutes, the least I can do is feed you. Friday, put in the usual order.”

Peter nodded and wrung his hands. Tony could tell that he was still dwelling on his aunt finding out about Spider-Man so as he grabbed them both cans of Sprite, Tony motioned for him to follow him. 

“Movie night,” Tony said, “you need a bit of time to relax and I wasn’t really getting very far with my work downstairs.”

Peter looked up in interest but Tony shook his head. “Another time, kid. You’re always welcome to join me down there, alright.”

“Sure,” Peter said and Tony could tell that he was happy. 

Tony led him into the recreation room where Tony had set up an entertainment center. 

“Pick something out,” Tony told Peter, “Friday will find it and play it. Whatever you want. I’ll be right back.”

He spared Peter one last look to take in his look of incredulity as Friday put the screen on and showed him a few options. He walked back to the kitchen and then out onto the balcony before he pulled out his phone and called May. 

It didn’t ring for long before she picked up. 

“I don’t know what to say to you,” May said. “I am – I am angry and upset and I can’t believe that you condone this behavior and invited him along to freaking Germany for something that there was no reason for him to be involved in. And that suit – I know you gave him that suit and that’s not okay, Stark, it’s not okay at all.”

Tony let her rant. He had known it was what he would get for calling her and yet he’d done it anyway because May needed to blame someone and she needed to get her feelings out and Tony was at fault partly and not just that but he also cared too much about Peter to let him take the full brunt. He also needed May to know that at least for one night Peter was safe and not out on the streets fighting crime. Tony supposed that Pepper and Rhodey would find his actions responsible and adult for once and of course it was Peter that had brought this out in him. 

“I was glad for him when you came to see us even if it was weird and surprising but I was glad because it felt like something good for Peter but if I had known that this was what you meant by it, then I wouldn’t have invited you inside.”

Tony cut in then. “He was doing it before I came in the picture.”

He heard a rustling and then. “I know,” May said, “I know. So, you’re not all at fault except that all of you heroes out there make it seem possible to kids like him.”

Tony leaned against the railing and looked out at the compound buildings where hundreds of people were working to sort out all kinds of things for The Avengers. 

“That doesn’t lie solely on my shoulders,” Tony said, “and for what it’s worth I am sorry about Germany but I wouldn’t have let him get hurt. What I asked of him was minimal. I needed him and I had known about him from the moment he started going out there. My AI searches for things like that. I felt he was capable and I did give him the suit but it’s for his own protection.”

May scoffed. “Right with that thing with the ferry and in DC and this villain he faced. The Vulture, they’re calling him. Mr. Stark, Peter is the only family I have left. I don’t want to lose him.”

The “too” was not added but Tony still heard it. How long had it been since her husband’s death? A little over a year, maybe. 

“The thing is,” May said, “I know this is Peter. He’s that kid that always worried about everyone else when things went wrong and that always tried his best to make things better and getting these abilities just gave him a chance to help even more and it’s not something he’s going to give up any time soon no matter how I feel about it.”

“Which is why,” Tony said, “it’s better that we support him and that we’re here to make sure that he doesn’t take unnecessary risks or put himself in harm’s way. That’s what I’m here for and I am monitoring his every move in that suit.”

“And you will train him,” May added, “you and The Avengers, you will train him so he’s not out there flailing around like a child off those webs.”

Tony let out a small laugh. “Yes,” he said, “but he himself said he’s not ready to be a part of The Avengers.”

“He’s not,” May said quickly. 

“No, he’s not,” Tony admitted, “but you’re right, and he should get some proper training.”

“Good,” May said, “because if he’s going to do this then he has to be the best at it, it’s the only way that I can even – that can make it bearable to know he’s Spider-Man.”

The conversation had gone better than Tony had expected but then he’d known from the moment he met her that May Parker was not conventional. 

“He’ll need to know you support him even if you don’t like it,” Tony said, “he’s worried about that.”

“I hope to talk to him when he comes home. I suppose he’s out there patrolling or whatever it is he calls it.”

“Oh, no,” Tony said, “I didn’t say. He’s here. He was – I think a bit concerned with you find out and he came here. So, at least you won’t have to worry about him tonight.”

May let out a sigh. “I always worry.”

“Yeah,” Tony said, “I think he sort of has that effect.”

\---

Peter stayed the night at the compound partially because it got too late after a couple of movies for Tony to let Peter go home but mostly because Peter didn’t really have the energy to deal with his aunt yet. So, Tony had showed him to the room that he had already set aside for Peter – so at least that part of the offer hadn’t been a test if it had been a test at all – and Peter spent about an hour browsing the internet on his phone because he couldn’t fall asleep at once. That was how Peter found the headline. 

**Tony Stark Is Tying The Knot**

He clicked on it immediately and waited anxiously for it to load. Mr. Stark had said nothing about an engagement, not that Peter necessarily expected his mentor to share things like that with him. When the page loaded his eyes took in every line. 

_Earlier today a surprise press conference was called by Mr. Stark. What everyone assumed to be Avengers related news perhaps involving The Accords or New York City’s newest hero, Spider-Man, turned into a more personal announcement when Mr. Stark instead announced that he and long time girlfriend Pepper Potts are engaged._

_Ms. Potts is of course the Stark Industries CEO and Mr. Stark’s former personal assistant. The couple has been together for years and while there were rumors that they had broken up a few months ago, it seems that those have been put to rest._

_No wedding date has been announced but if we know Tony Stark, then we know it will be lavish and grandiose._

The Article was dated from earlier that day and Peter couldn’t help but wonder why he had spent the night with Mr. Stark, if he and his girlfriend had just gotten engaged. He hoped that Mr. Stark hadn’t cancelled plans with his fiancé for him. 

After the article, Peter found himself yawning so he put the phone down on the bedside table and climbed into the comfortable queen sized bed. It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep. 

The next morning, Peter woke up disoriented and it wasn’t until Friday greeted him that he remembered where he was and more importantly that it was a school day. Once that realization hit, Peter got dressed in his clothes from the day before and ran out of the room only to run straight into Mr. Stark. 

“What’s the rush, kid?” 

“I have school today. I didn’t even realize and I’m going to be late and—”

“And, I’ve spoken to your aunt who called them and told them you wouldn’t be in today,” Mr. Stark said. He looked down at Peter with clear amusement and then motioned for him to follow him. 

They went to the kitchen where breakfast awaited them in the form of pancakes and Peter realized that he was actually quite hungry. 

Mr. Stark poured himself coffee and busied himself with his phone while Peter ate. Peter tried hard not to keep watching him, but it was hard. Tony Stark just drew all eyes towards him. 

“Your aunt does want you to come home at some point today,” Mr. Stark said, looking up again.

Peter felt a bout of nervousness come over him. He didn’t know if he’d ever be ready to face May. He knew that he would have to at some point, but it was hard to want to deal with it. Mr. Stark must have noticed because he sighed. 

“Peter, I can assure you that she is taking this far better than you think,” he said, “but if you want to come down to tinker with me for a bit that’s fine too.”

He nodded quickly. It would give him some more time to prepare. It was all that Peter really needed. 

The workshop at the compound was not that much different than the one that he’d seen at Avengers tower. The bots were even there but in some sort of sleep mode because none of them greeted them. In one corner of the room Peter saw a bunch of things that he remembered seeing on the plane. 

“I’m still making sure none of it was damaged,” Mr. Stark said. 

“Oh,” Peter said.

“Precaution mostly,” Mr. Stark said, “but some of that stuff can get dangerous. I’m glad you managed to stop it getting stolen.”

Peter kept looking around and to his surprise he found Captain America’s shield on one of the tables. There were scratches on the front of it still and Peter just knew that they had happened during the fight over The Sokovia Accords. It was strange to think about one of his heroes being out there somewhere as a fugitive. 

“At school we learned about the accords,” Peter found himself saying.

“When I was in school we never really got very close to present day history,” Mr. Stark said with a thoughtful look on his face. 

“So I know that it was a complicated issue and that you didn’t explain everything to me,” Peter said, “but either way I think you were right. We have to be accountable, you know, when things go wrong.”

Mr. Stark was staring at him still and after a moment he nodded. “The more I think about it,” he said, “the more I see all the mistakes we all made. Me included. I kept too much close to the chest and it backfired because they didn’t trust me to know what was best, not the way they trusted him.”

Peter couldn’t understand it. He knew that people tended to blame Iron Man for what happened with Ultron and Sokovia, but disasters happened all the time and people didn’t always make the right choices, but didn’t intention count for anything? Why would his friends and teammates not see that instead of placing blame?

“Do you think,” Peter said and bit his lip, “do you think they’ll ever come back?”

“When the world needs them, and it will, they’ll be back no matter what the consequences are. At least we can trust that.”

Mr. Stark picked up the shield and Peter could swear that his hands shook as he propped it up against a wall, out of sight. Peter knew somehow that there was something he didn’t know or couldn’t understand about the way that Mr. Stark tried to not glance at that corner as he pulled up the plans for another Iron Man suit and actually started to show Peter just how the suit worked exactly. 

They were down there for a couple of hours when Peter heard footsteps and then Pepper Potts appeared. 

Peter’s first impression was that she was absolutely beautiful. He’d seen pictures of her in the past, but it was different to see her up close. She was tall – taller than Mr. Stark – and elegant. Peter could definitely understand how a woman like her might belong at Mr. Stark’s side. 

“Tony, did we or did we not discuss that you needed to attend today’s meeting,” she said instead of a greeting. 

“And, then I had Friday text you that I couldn’t make it,” Mr. Stark said, “I had more important things going on.”

They didn’t act like two people that were going to be married, Peter thought, as he watched them. Ms. Potts presented a folder to Mr. Stark and he signed a few papers. 

“I’ve told you before that you can just forge my signature. You were doing just that when—”

“I was not proud of that,” Ms. Potts said, cutting him off and finally seeing Peter. “Oh,” she said.

“Hi,” Peter said.

“Pepper, meet Peter. Peter this is Pepper Potts.”

Ms. Potts looked a bit thrown off, but she recovered quickly. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” she said, “you’ve made an impression on Tony which isn’t exactly easy. Just don’t let him talk you into crazy things like leaving the country for stupid childish fights, alright.”

It was clearly a sore spot and the way she glared at Mr. Stark spoke volumes. 

“I’ll try not to,” Peter said. 

Tony coughed. “I’ll have you know that he’s very capable.”

“I didn’t say he wasn’t,” Ms. Potts said and then looked at her phone. “Remember you have to be in D.C. tomorrow. I’ve sent Vision a reminder too so neither of you slack on that. We need everything to go as planned.”

Peter looked down at the schematics that Mr. Stark had pulled up of previous iterations of the Iron Man suit. 

“I won’t forget,” Mr. Stark said, “I’ll take a quinjet tonight.”

She nodded.

“Is that all, Ms. Potts?”

Ms. Potts’ lips quirked up. “That will be all, Mr. Stark,” she said and then turned to Peter once more. “It was finally nice to meet you, Peter.”

“You too, Ms. Potts,” Peter said. 

“Call me Pepper,” she said. 

Peter nodded. “Okay.”

She left as quick as she’d come, her heels clicking on the floor and leaving silence in her wake. Peter knew then that he had to ask. 

“Hey, Mr. Stark, is it true you’re engaged to Pepper?”

Mr. Stark actually laughed and then he shook his head. “No, we’re not engaged. It’s probably for the best that we aren’t, actually.”

“Oh,” Peter said.

Mr. Stark rubbed his hands together and then sighed. “I’m not the best at the whole relationship thing, kid, never have been. This life I lead where I’m Iron Man and I’m also Tony Stark, it doesn’t really give me the option of wanting that because it means dragging that person into this and that just isn’t fair when they’re not choosing this life. I’m not – I’m not saying this because I’m telling you that you can’t have love or relationships but that for me they haven’t worked out and it’s a hard balance to hit. I guess you just have to have the right person.”

Peter thought about Liz and how he’d abandoned her at homecoming. He hadn’t even bothered to send her any kind of text afterwards as an apology and then the last time he saw her she was being pulled from the school and moving away. He still felt a little bad about being the reason that her dad was in jail. Then again, logically he knew that it was Mr. Toomes’ fault and not Peter for putting the bad guy away. 

“Anyway,” Mr. Stark said, “here’s what you need to know about the thrusters.”

\---

 **Spider-Kid:** You told me to keep you updated. So, today I helped this guy find his lost dog. Turns out the dog was just visiting his neighbor to take naps at her house. 

**Spider-Kid:** Aunt May says that you have to come over or dinner when you’re back in New York. 

**Spider-Kid:** I thought I saw Black Widow today but maybe I’m just seeing things. Anyway, I webbed up a guy that was trying to steal at a bodega. 

**Spider-Kid:** There was a small fire. Karen really came in handy for finding people trapped inside. No casualties. 

**Spider-Kid:** I definitely saw Black Widow today. I think she changed her hair color. Do you know if she has a sister? 

**Spider-Kid:** Are the meetings or whatever really this long? I thought you were supposed to back yesterday. 

The meetings in D.C. kept Tony too busy to be able to really respond to Peter, but he made sure to read every one of his messages and since there was nothing absolutely worrying in them aside from the fact that Natasha was probably in New York and watching Peter, he kept up the silence even though he found that after three days without seeing Peter that he actually missed him. 

The first two days were actually an important part of The Accord negotiations with the UN. Tony didn’t necessarily trust the UN or the appointed council that was overseeing The Accords, but he still felt it was for the best. Things had cooled down considerably since Cap had broken out Sam, Wanda, Clint, and Scott. They were on the run, sure, but their lack of appearance anywhere meant that they were smart enough to keep out of the media’s radar.

Most people didn’t dislike The Avengers or consider Cap a bad guy which helped, but he was still a fugitive as were the others until they could come to an agreement over The Accords or something majorly catastrophic happened that needed them. 

Without Ross pushing for his own agenda and ideals, Tony found that the conversations went a bit smoother. They were finally hashing out what was working and what just wouldn’t. This had been the point all along, but Cap and the others hadn’t seen that. They hadn’t seen that Tony always wanted to change aspects of The Accords. They hadn’t seen that there were places where they could push and things that they could fight for. 

Then again, in the end it hadn’t even been about The Accords. It had been about Bucky and Tony couldn’t deny that he was absolutely still hurting because of it. 

After the negotiations, Tony had other things to deal with. The first was a meeting with Fury and Hill. 

His phone was actually confiscated for the meeting for safety reasons and they met in some sort of bunker. 

“Whoever you got to do your interior decorating, I’d ask for my money back,” Tony said when he stepped inside. 

Hill rolled her eyes but smiled warmly. Tony had always liked her, especially in the time when she’d been working directly for him and The Avengers. She hadn’t gone back to Shield yet now that it was reinstated but Tony thought it was due to her loyalty to Fury and since everyone still thought that he was dead. It probably also had to do with how different Shield was being run now. At least they were shouldering the Inhuman problem without disturbing Tony and his own problems. 

“So why did I get secret coded messages to meet you guys here, anyway?” Tony asked when Fury stepped out of the shadows. 

“There’s something coming,” Fury said, “something big. Something alien.”

Tony’s heart skipped a beat. “Alien,” he said. 

Fury led him further into their bunker. It actually was well set up with numerous computers and screens that Tony noted to all be SI made. At least they were smart enough to use the best. 

“We have some communication with someone in space,” Fury admitted, “and she says that something has been happening. Something that all the galaxies are becoming aware of. Someone – some entity is searching for artifacts of some kind. Alien tech.”

“Like the tesseract,” Tony muttered, “and the mind stone in Vision.”

Hill who had moved closer nodded. “Yes,” she said, “we think Earth has been in contact with enough of these to give whoever this is some interest. We’ve been trying to contact Thor but—”

But no one had seen him since he’d gone back home to investigate this exact problem. Tony remembered how concerned Thor had been as he got ready to leave. Tony remembered how he’d hoped that it wouldn’t come to another huge fight. He had been trying to stop being Iron Man. He had planned to settle down with Pepper and leave it off to Steve and Nat and the newbies. That hadn’t exactly gone to plan, not when Tony still couldn’t stop himself from making more suits and definitely not when every other week he was showing up at the compound to hang out with The Avengers and offer them his help. 

“So what’s the big plan, then?” Tony asked.

“We need the team back, Stark,” Fury said, “this is something that will require all hands on deck.”

Tony should have expected it. 

“Legally speaking there would be hurdles,” Tony said, “and some of them will require that our dear Captain bend a little and compromise. There’s also contacting them. They are on the run after all.”

Tony settled back into the chair and watched them. Fury never gave anything away, but Tony knew him and he could just tell. 

“Oh,” he said, “you’ve already been in contact with them.”

“I have it from a good source that you have a way too,” Fury said.

Tony shrugged his shoulders. 

That was when Steve stepped out of the shadows. He was gruff looking. His hair had gotten longer, but it was the beard that caught Tony’s attention because it changed Steve’s entire face. Tony couldn’t help but think that he looked good despite his unkemptness. Still, Tony couldn’t help but feel a pang of hurt when he saw him. He could still remember being on that cold ground in Siberia with the shield raised over him. 

“Tony,” Steve said. 

Tony for once didn’t have words. 

“I – I’m sorry for how things ended,” Steve said, “but I’ve been – we’ve been paying attention so congratulations are in order.”

Tony was confused for a moment until he saw Hill out of the corner of his eye and she held up her hand and pointed at her ring finger. The engagement. Of course. Tony for the first time felt like he couldn’t deny it. He couldn’t admit that it had been the best excuse they could come up with. 

“Thanks,” he muttered.

Fury seemed to sense the tension because he stood from his seat. “We thought that the first thing to do is get a pardon,” he said, “I’ve already set some wheels in motion. We need our team back, Stark.”

“I guess we do,” Tony said.

“That includes Spider-Man,” Fury added. “He would be an asset.”

Tony shook his head at once. “No. Absolutely not.”

They all stared at him in surprise. Steve more confused than anything. None of them knew Peter, they didn’t know what he could and couldn’t do and they certainly didn’t know what he could handle and Tony wasn’t going to put that kid in any more danger. 

“You were the one to bring him to Germany,” Steve pointed out. 

“That was a controlled move,” Tony said as he stood up, “not some cosmic alien threat. And if that’s what we’re on the brink of facing then we’ll find a way to get the band back together. One reunion tour coming right up and let’s just hope Bruce hears about this and comes back. We’re going to need the green guy.”

\---

 **Iron Man:** I’ll be back tonight. Dinner sounds good, tell your hot aunt I’ll be there at 6. We have a lot to discuss like how reckless you were with that fire. The suit isn’t completely fire retardant.

Peter got the message as he was walking towards his locker with Ned. After almost a whole week without contact from Mr. Stark, he was a bit surprised to finally get a text back and he couldn’t help but smile. Ned nudged him. 

“Who’s texting you? Is it Liz? Are the two of you keeping in touch?”

Peter shook his head. “It’s Mr. Stark, actually,” Peter said, “he’s back from a business trip tonight and coming over for dinner.”

Ned’s eyes widened. “No way,” he whispered.

They arrived at Peter’s locker and Peter quickly got it open. “Yeah, it was May’s idea. I think she’s trying to really come to terms with you know—” he motioned at himself. 

“Sure,” Ned said, “is she really taking it hard?”

“No. I don’t know. I guess she’s reacting like anyone should.” Peter closed his locker and shrugged his shoulders. 

They had to go separate ways for first period, so Ned only pat Peter on the shoulder. “I’m sure it’s going to go alight,” he said before walking away. 

Peter didn’t think it wouldn’t go fine. During the couple of times that May had met Mr. Stark she had been nice and friendly with him and Mr. Stark was just always charming with anyone that he cared to impress. Peter was mostly worried about what Mr. Stark would have to say about the fire. 

It’s not like Peter hadn’t been careful. It was just that after saving five people out of the burning building, he had inhaled a lot of smoke and at one point a beam had actually fallen on his leg and done some damage. Everything had just been an overwhelming mess because it reminded Peter of the building that had fallen on him and Coney Island and the fire caused by the explosion. It wasn’t a great combination by any means but Peter hadn’t been majorly hurt. He just knew that Happy and Pepper had told him all about it. 

After the fire, when Peter had landed on a random roof to rest up, it was Pepper Potts that had called him and demanded that he get down from the roof so Happy could drive him to get medical attention. Peter still didn’t know how Pepper had gotten her number into his phone, but she had and Peter had known better than to not do what she asked. 

At the compound, they had fixed up a gash on his leg and had him breathe in some oxygen despite how he reminded the doctors there that he had a healing factor. Peter hadn’t been necessarily happy about letting the doctors know his identity, but Pepper had assured him that they wouldn’t be telling anyone about it. So of course all of that had probably been immediately related to Mr. Stark. 

“Hey, Parker,” MJ said when he sat down.

“Yeah?”

She shoved a drawing onto his desk. It was him and Ned at his locker and Ned had been given the features of a dog. He on the other hand had what appeared to be bunny ears. 

“Um,” Peter said, “thanks.”

She nodded. “Yeah, the two of you are pathetic.”

Peter really didn’t understand MJ. She was always hanging around and Peter had really started to notice when Ned found out he was Spider-Man because he tried not to talk to him about it when people were around and it was becoming increasingly obvious that MJ was just always around. When he brought it up to Ned, Ned had just laughed. 

“She’s always around,” he said, “I thought you knew. I mean, we’re kind of her friends.”

The rest of the period went without any disturbances until MJ dropped another sheet of paper on his desk about five minutes before class was over. This time it was their teacher except that MJ had given him feathers and a beak. He couldn’t help the snort of laughter that came out. A few of the other students close by turned to look at him and Peter tried to press his lips together. He glanced at MJ who was just smirking at him. 

“Thanks for that,” he muttered to her as they left the classroom. 

The rest of the day went without a hitch and Peter left school right on time. He walked home with Ned instead of changing into his suit and going out on a patrol mostly because when he’d texted May that Mr. Stark was coming for dinner she’d asked him to come straight home. 

“Are we going to hang out this weekend?” Ned asked when they were nearing the street where they’d need to part ways. 

“Yes,” Peter said, “assuming that nothing crazy goes down yes.” 

After they did part ways, Peter tried to think about everything he needed to get done that weekend. A lot of his homework had been piling up. It wasn’t exactly hard, but it did require that he give it some of his time and Peter didn’t have much of that these days. 

He was distracted by coming up with some sort of schedule when he heard a scream and immediately Peter ran towards it. It came from an alley where he spotted two figures closing in on a young woman, Peter had to change into his suit behind a dumpster but he did it quickly and tucked his things in there too and then he ran into the alley. 

The two men weren’t tough to web up and Peter did it in minutes before turning to the woman and he was almost shocked when it was MJ. Peter had never seen her look scared before and he thought that she might actually cry. She was clutching her bag to her chest and her hair was wild around her face. 

“Are you okay?” Peter asked and tried to make his voice sound different. 

“I—I guess,” she said shakily. 

Peter offered her his hand and she took it and stood and began to dust herself off. She glanced over to the guys that had come after her and the fear fell away even if she still looked shaken up. 

“I was just walking past and they came at me,” she said and pulled out her phone and Peter watched in amazement as she dialed 911. 

Peter suddenly didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to leave mostly because he personally knew MJ and he suddenly felt like he needed to make sure she made it home. 

“Anyway,” MJ said, “police is on the way and I’m not sticking around and I don’t suppose you should either.” 

That said she started to walk away and Peter was left dumbfounded once more because MJ was just something else. He followed after her and she glanced back a few times until they reached the end of the street. 

“You don’t have to follow me home. I don’t really like spiders much and I rather not bring one home with me.”

Peter didn’t respond and MJ didn’t say anything else as he continued to escort her home. When they had reached her house she turned back to look at him once more. 

“Thank you,” she said, “but I do think there are probably other crimes happening for you to take care of.”

Peter stayed long enough to see her go inside her apartment building and then he swung up and used his web to head home and got inside through his bedroom window which was always left open a crack for this very reason. May let out a small scream when he made it inside. 

“Peter Parker we have a door for a reason,” she said and let out a breath, “now get out of that getup and clean this room.”

It was only then that Peter remembered that he’d left his stuff behind that dumpster. 

“Um, I promise I’ll get on that, but first I should probably go get my backpack.”

May shook her head, this time a tad amused. “When Tony Stark gets here you can ask him for some tips on not losing all your things every time you decide to swing your way home.”

Peter rolled his eyes but ran over to give her a quick hug before he left out the window again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter dealt a little bit more with plot. I still am not fully sure about where it's going specifically but I have some sort of plot worked out. I guess everything is always headed towards Infinity War. 
> 
> I also did decide to not make the Pepper/Tony engagement thing real because while I love them together I just can't necessarily say that they belong together despite how much they may love and care for each other. I'm also a Stony shipper so that's the direction it may head but the most important part about this fic will be the Peter and Tony relationship. Still, I couldn't help but bring Steve into it because of the beard and the new Infinity War posters and leaked trailer. I also really wanted to bring MJ and Ned a bit more into this so that was fun to write. 
> 
>  
> 
> Hope everyone enjoyed it and thanks for reading. You can also find this on my tumblr: [Part Two](http://inawickedlittletown.tumblr.com/post/163470344527/whatever-it-takes-2)


	3. Part Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The response to this continues to be amazing so thank you to everyone reading!  
> I have been trying to post this chapter for the past two nights but have had no time to do it let alone start writing the next one so that one may just take a little longer but it is coming.  
> Enjoy.

Tony arrived at Peter and May’s apartment almost exactly at six. He had timed everything perfectly because he’d only been back in New York for about twenty minutes before he was headed to there. The long week in D.C. had finally come to an end and Tony was glad that Vision was actually taking point with a lot of the stuff to do with the Accords. He was better suited than Tony exactly for two reasons. He was one logical, and two not prone to acting on emotion alone. It discomfited the politicians who liked to think that they could act without feeling. Not to mention of course that Vision could fact check all of them right on the spot because everything he read he retained. So the UN and the U.S. Government were getting the best that Tony could offer in terms of someone suited to negotiate the new terms. 

Peter opened the door when he knocked and let him in with a smile. “Hi, Mr. Stark,” he said.

Peter didn’t look different than he had a week ago and Tony couldn’t even tell that he had been injured mere days earlier but that didn’t mean that he didn’t let the relief to finding him alright settle into him. 

“Hey, kid,” Tony said as he stepped inside and actually reached over to ruffle his hair. 

Peter grumbled something and tried to fix it with his fingers. Tony smirked at him. 

Tony had been in Peter’s apartment all of two times and neither time had given him time to look around so Tony took it all in. It was small and homey. 

“Hello, Mr. Stark,” May said. She was wiping her hands on her apron as she opened the fridge door.

Tony smiled. “Hello, thanks for inviting me over.”

“Well, it was only necessary,” May said, “dinner will be ready soon. Make yourself at home.”

Tony took that to mean that he could wander. Peter watched him as he walked over to a bookshelf that contained both books and picture frames. He found one of Peter with May that must not have been too old in one corner next to one of a much younger May with a man that had a slight resemblance to Peter except that he was blond and his eyes were a striking blue. That must have been Ben. 

Other pictures featured the three of them. In some Peter wasn’t more than a toddler and in others he was just a few years younger than now. Then, Tony found one of a different couple and he knew at once who they were. Richard and Mary Parker. Tony hadn’t connected the dots, not even after Friday had told him all about Peter back when he was about to recruit him. Maybe he hadn’t paid it any attention or it was because back then Mary hadn’t gone by Parker but Fitzpatrick. She had been brilliant in the vein of how Bruce Banner was brilliant and had, if Tony remembered correctly, published some fantastic articles in the field of genetics. 

Then, she had disappeared or Tony hadn’t noticed she changed her name but he knew almost with 99% surety that Mary Parker hadn’t done anything of any notoriety. Neither had Richard for that matter. 

“Those are my parents,” Peter said and Tony looked away from the picture. 

“I figured,” Tony said and then glanced at Peter. “Your mother was a genius,” he added before he could stop himself.

Peter stared at him and Tony knew that May had stopped chopping vegetables in the kitchen. “I – you knew her,” Peter said, “why didn’t you tell me? How did you know her?”

“I didn’t know I knew her until just now,” Tony admitted. “She published a lot of papers in her youth under her maiden name. I guess it was before she got married. I met her once at a conference and I think I probably tried to recruit her for SI to work with the bio engineering division that we were starting out but she turned me down.” 

Peter gapped at him. “I didn’t know she was published,” Peter said and then looked towards May who just shrugged her shoulders. Tony could tell that he was itching to try and find his mother’s work so Tony pulled out his phone. 

“Friday, download anything Mary Fitzpatrick published into Peter’s computer,” he said into the phone. 

“Friday has access to my computer,” Peter said.

Tony walked away from the shelf. “Friday has access to anything with internet, kid.”

They went into Peter’s room mostly because Tony could tell that Peter wanted to look at the articles immediately. It made Tony wonder about how much Peter actually knew about his parents. Obviously he had been raised by his father’s brother so he probably knew a lot more about Richard than Mary, but he couldn’t help but feel like there was something else there. 

He texted Friday to look into it and have information ready for him when he left the Parkers. 

Tony leaned on the doorway to Peter’s room and kept a watch on him. He had gotten to the articles already and was looking through them. Tony knew he would understand some of the material but certainly not all. 

“They, um, they died in a plane crash,” Peter said after a while.

Tony knew. Friday had told him just that while Tony drove over to the apartment all those months ago. 

“I don’t remember them much. I was so little when it happened and according to May their work was so time consuming that most of the time I was with her anyway even before it happened but they tried to keep their memory in tact. Mostly I was just always curious about what they were like but either way I didn’t have a bad childhood. It’s always just a question. A what if.”

Peter shook his head and let out a breath. “Anyway,” he said and got up, “that wasn’t the point of dinner tonight.”

Watching him, Tony could tell that May and Ben were his parents far more than Richard and Mary had been and that it was likely that Ben’s death had hit Peter harder than that of the two people that were biologically his parents. 

“No,” Tony agreed, “but part of it was to ask about that fire you decided to run into.”

Peter dropped his head back. “It was nothing I couldn’t handle.”

Tony stared him down. “I saw the medical notes after they checked you out. It was dangerous and reckless and I don’t care that you have a healing factor. You need to be more careful.”

“So did Pepper call you herself to tell you about it?” Peter asked.

Tony nodded. It had been an interesting call especially because Pepper had been worrying about someone other than him. But mostly it had made Tony want to just get in a suit and fly directly to the compound and Peter. 

“She was the one that Friday alerted when your breathing became irregular,” Tony said, “and if you didn’t heal the way you did, who knows what might have happened.”

“But I do heal faster,” Peter pressed. 

Tony knew he needed to let it go. It was going to keep happening and as long as Peter continued to be Spider-Man he would get injured and hurt. Tony didn’t know if it was because Peter was young or because Tony felt directly responsible, but he couldn’t bear the thought of him truly getting hurt or injured because of his antics as Spider-Man.

“You do,” Tony said, “but you are going on instinct rather than proper training and you just rush into things without thought. So, starting this weekend we’re going to start training you.”

Peter didn’t seem annoyed by it like Tony knew he would have been in his stead but then again Tony had never been as well adjusted as Peter. 

“Okay,” Peter said.

“Good,” Tony said. 

“Dinner’s ready,” May called. 

\---

Peter was impressed by how well May and Mr. Stark got along despite everything. He knew that May wasn’t exactly a big fan of Tony Stark, but she could also respect him and respect that he was Peter’s mentor and friend. 

“A fantastic cook and a pretty face,” Tony said after dinner was over. 

May rolled her eyes. “I hear you’re engaged, Mr. Stark,” she said. 

Tony didn’t correct her so Peter didn’t either but Peter noticed the blush on her cheeks. He got up to clear the table and May smiled at him in the affectionate way that she always did. It made Peter feel like things really were going to be okay even if there were changes in the horizon. 

“So, you knew Peter’s mother,” May said while Peter started the dishes. Peter paused and listened. 

“Barely,” Mr. Stark said, “we must have rubbed elbows at a bunch of different conferences but I only met her the one time. SI had been looking into expanding our bio engineering fields and I knew about Mary because she had written some really intriguing articles about genetics and in particular how little human DNA differs from that of other animals. Of course she turned me down when I asked her to be the head of our research department and it’s not something that really took off with SI anyway. We didn’t attract the right people because everyone knew we were more about the weapon development. Truth is, I turned a blind eye to a lot of what my company was doing to focus on my own projects and my own work.”

Peter scrubbed the dishes with a sponge and he waited for May to respond. 

“I don’t know what Mary or Richard did for a living,” she admitted, “but we knew it was classified and important and they felt that it was important enough to be away from Peter for long periods of time. It was – it was a tragedy how that ended for them.”

“Yes,” Mr. Stark said.

Peter kept washing and listening to them as they went from that topic to another until May was telling Mr. Stark that being Spider-Man wouldn’t interfere with Peter’s dreams of going to college and beyond. 

“Of course it won’t,” Mr. Stark had said at once. “If Peter had the time, an internship at SI would be his in a heartbeat. I think he will get into any school he wants and that he will have a bright future in any field.”

“Good,” May said.

“I’ll pay his tuition,” Mr. Stark said then and they were all silent until a cup slipped out of Peter’s fingers and fell into the sink, splashing water on the front of his shirt. 

May spoke before Peter could. “Mr. Stark, I am not insinuating that this situation we are in means that you have to compensate by paying for Peter’s education. That is an insane amount of money and—”

“And I have it,” Mr. Stark said, “and I have never met anyone like Peter. He is the kind of kid that wants to learn and yearns to prove that they can be the best and he can and we are both aware of the doors that I can open for him. They would not be undeserved. I want to take this off his shoulders because I can and because he deserves it. He has the potential to do great things.”

They seemed to be staring each other down and Peter couldn’t predict who would win. He cleaned up the broken cup and kept washing the rest until the whole kitchen was clean. Only then did he pay them any mind and May had finally shrugged. 

“Okay,” she said, “if you’re insisting.”

“I am,” Mr. Stark said.

\---

“I feel like I just keep accumulating spiders,” Tony said as he entered the compound and let the Iron Man suit be put away. 

“He’s an interesting kid,” Natasha said and she came out of the shadows. 

Peter was right and she had gone blond. It didn’t look bad on her, just odd. She wasn’t the Nat that he was used to. 

“And he spotted you,” Tony said as he walked towards the kitchen. The lights turned on as he walked and he heard Natasha follow him. 

“You remodeled,” Natasha said and came into step with him. 

Tony could remember his anger in the aftermath of Natasha letting them go. Then again he had been angry about Rhodey getting hurt too and it had all been jumbled up together. Even still, Tony had let her go and had known that she would be left to operate from the shadows. It was exactly what she had been trying to avoid but ultimately she had made her choices and in a way Natasha had been right because Barnes was being framed. In the end, it hadn’t been about that at all. 

“It wasn’t built with me living here in mind originally,” Tony said and he got a cup for the coffee that Friday had already begun brewing for him. 

“Right,” she said and sat down at the island. She watched him as she always had and Tony always felt a little like she could see everything he was hiding. “For the record,” Nat said, and when Tony looked at her she looked resigned, “I thought he told you.”

Tony stopped short of bringing the coffee carafe out and he moved to stand directly across from her with only the island between them. “So you assumed instead of thinking that you might want to be sure I got informed about how my parents died.”

Natasha hung her head. “Tony,” she said, “I thought you’d take it better from Steve.”

He probably would have if Steve had told him as soon as he could after finding out. Tony had even called him while he was still at the hospital in D.C. and it hadn’t just been to offer him a place to stay in New York but to ask after him and Steve hadn’t told him. Come to think of it, Steve hadn’t even asked Tony for help in locating Bucky. It had been months and a bit of prodding before Steve even told Tony that The Winter Soldier was his childhood best friend. 

“Well,” Tony said, “all of that happened and maybe I would have come home from Siberia without a giant bruise across my chest and not as much emotional baggage.”

“He feels horrible about it,” Natasha said.

Tony turned away to get his coffee and then he joined her at the island and sighed. “What are you doing back here, anyway? Did Fury send you?”

She shook her head. “Cap did,” she said, “he wanted me to check up on you and make sure you’re doing okay.”

“Ah,” Tony said, “I did wonder if your loyalties were still with him.”

Natasha threw up her hands. “We are all on the same side. I am your friend and I am his. I care about both of you and I am not reporting on your every move to him. This isn’t like—”

“Like Natalie Rushman,” Tony said and couldn’t help but grin because they really did go way back. 

“I haven’t even told him that you and Pepper aren’t really engaged,” Natasha said and smiled at him in a knowing way, “nor have I told him about how close you and the kid have gotten. He’s pretty young, Tony, he shouldn’t be involved in this.”

Tony drank a huge gulp of his coffee. “No, he shouldn’t. Hey, actually, since you are around and I hope sticking around, how do you feel about proper introductions and also training him? He has amazing instincts which I think come with his abilities and he’s good about trusting them. That and the suit I made him help him out a lot but there’s so much about himself that he doesn’t get yet and he’s lacking in technique. I think – well, from what I’ve gathered watching him – that he can even sense things before they happen. Sometimes from the way he turns or knows just where to be.”

It had been one of those things that Tony didn’t pick up on at first until he was seeing all the data and video from Germany. It had been a hard one to watch but Tony had wanted to see the progress that Peter had made since Tony had given him the suit and he had noticed it when Peter would actually act almost in tandem with whatever was coming his way as if he had known it was coming. 

“How did you know I planned to stay?”

“Friday told me you brought luggage,” Tony informed her and smirked because he knew that Nat had been trying to catch him unawares. “Not to mention that I know Fury wants you here to make sure that I manage to bring the others home.”

\---

Peter felt a little bit bad about cancelling plans with Ned, but Ned had to know that it was almost inevitable. Peter just had to remind himself that he would have to make it up to him. He even mentioned it to Karen to remind him just in case. It was just that on top of all the homework that he needed to get done, Mr. Stark had called to tell him that he needed to be at the compound for training on Saturday and then called again to tell him that Happy would pick him up on Friday after school instead and that he had already cleared it with May for him to spend the weekend there. 

So, Peter made sure that he had all of his homework and textbooks with him on Friday and then told Ned the bad news. Then, he and Ned walked out of school and Happy was waiting for him with a stoic look on his face. 

“Have a good day at school?” Happy asked when Peter had gotten inside the car. 

“Yup,” Peter responded and pulled out his copy of The Great Gatsby and flipped to the first page. Even though they had been reading the book for the past month or so, Peter hadn’t even opened it. Now he was right on the cusp of a test on the book on Monday and he knew that it wouldn’t just do to watch the movie. 

Happy didn’t bother him as he read and Peter got through a few chapters before they arrived at the compound. Mr. Stark was actually waiting outside for them and Peter was sure that it was due to Friday informing him when they were pulling in. 

“Hey, kid, lets get you settled in before training,” Mr. Stark said and placed an arm around his shoulders to steer him inside.

Peter pushed his backpack strap up his shoulder. “What does training entail exactly?” he asked.

Mr. Stark just smirked. “You’ll see,” he said. 

He left his stuff in the bedroom he’d used last time and was surprised to see that someone had put a Spider-Man sticker on the door as if to mark it as his. 

“You haven’t actually seen the whole facility,” Mr. Stark said as he led him away from his room.

They walked out of the living areas to a hall that bridged that building onto another. There were more people in that building and Peter was surprised to see them. He looked to Mr. Stark with the question. 

“There are lots of things that need doing,” Mr. Stark said and they kept walking. 

Mr. Stark showed him some of the training rooms from the regular looking gym with things like treadmills and weights to a room that was all padded and then one that was clearly meant for aim practice. 

“This place is really cool,” Peter said as he and Mr. Stark walked past a punching bag. 

“I kind of figured you’d think so,” Mr. Stark said and then motioned for him to keep walking. 

They went into the locker room and Peter got a look around. It was clean and looked relatively unused. 

“Get into your suit,” Mr. Stark said, “it’s probably for the best you train in that.”

Peter couldn’t help but notice, then, that Mr. Stark was in one of his usual expensive suits. He opened his mouth to ask about it, but Mr. Stark walked out of the locked room and left Peter to change. 

He had gotten better about changing quickly so it was less than a minute before he walked out sans mask. Mr. Stark stood right outside waiting, phone in hand. 

“Come on, I have to introduce you to your instructor.”

“Instructor?” Peter repeated.

Mr. Stark just smiled and Peter couldn’t ask because someone was approaching them. It took Peter a moment to realize that it was Black Widow. She really had gone blond which meant that Peter had definitely spotted her those two times. 

She wasn’t wearing her Black Widow uniform but instead yoga pants and a tank top. Had Peter not known her from the fight in Germany, he didn’t think he could have differentiated between her and any other gym going woman in New York. He supposed that that was the whole point of the blond hair. 

“Peter, this is Natasha. Nat, this is Peter.”

Peter remembered sort of meeting her in Germany. At some point Mr. Stark had introduced him to his team but there hadn’t really been time for proper introductions and in the aftermath too much had been going on for Peter to really get a chance to talk to any of them not to mention that he was a sore and bruised mess and Happy had taken him directly back to the hotel room and there had just been so much going on. 

“It’s good to finally meet you,” Natasha said.

“You too,” Peter mumbled out and her lips quirked up a little at his nerves. 

“I figured since Natasha was available she would be the perfect person to get you some hand to hand training,” Mr. Stark said, “she’s the best there is.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head a little but didn’t correct him and Peter knew that Mr. Stark was right. Peter had seen her in action first hand and she was amazing. It was impressive how much she could do without having any kind of mutation or enhanced abilities. The Black Widow really was the real deal and Peter couldn’t believe that she was going to train him.

“I tried to train this one a long time ago,” she said and motioned towards Mr. Stark, “he didn’t really take to it.”

Mr. Stark let out a laugh. “I can defend myself just fine,” he said, “in and out of the suit.”

“Well,” Natasha said, “how about we see what you can do, Peter.”

“Oh, uh, alright,” Peter said and swallowed. 

Mr. Stark motioned for him to move forward and he could tell that Natasha was watching him. He heard Mr. Stark step back towards a few chairs that had been set up out of the way of the mats but turned when he heard Natasha come at him with a kick. He dodged her leg and moved to the side but she moved quickly and Peter found himself on the ground and when he jumped back to his feet he only just managed to catch her fist. He pulled her in and raised a knee to hit her on the abdomen but Natasha recovered quickly and in a move that happened in seconds she literally wrapped one of her legs around his shoulder and then brought him down to the ground and rolled away to her feet. Peter could just lay there. 

“He’s better than you told me, Tones,” she said, “but there’s room for improvement.”

“That was so cool,” Peter said, “you have to show me that last move.”

Natasha laughed and she helped him up.

\---

Tony had always been notorious for not sleeping every night so it didn’t surprise Natasha when she heard him in the kitchen arguing with Friday over his need for coffee. She had been back a little over a week and it was nice but different in a way that Natasha didn’t like. The compound felt too big and less like home. On the days when Peter Parker showed up things were better. Tony would drop anything to spend time with the kid and Natasha could watch them fondly because Peter was just sweet and enthusiastic and innocent in a way that Natasha hadn’t expected and he was also smart. Sometimes watching Tony and Peter together left her with the impression that she was watching a father and son because they were so similar and because they were so fond of each other. 

“Sir, I must advice you against drinking more caffeine,” Friday was saying, “you have been awake for over thirty six hours.”

“That’s a lot even for you,” Natasha said and leaned against the kitchen island. 

He threw his hands up in the air. “I’ve been dealing with a lot,” he said.

Natasha was well aware of how the week had gone. Peter had faced off against some jewel thieves and broken his arm in the process. Vision had shown up for about half a day with a new version of the Accords that Natasha could tell were already more favorable. He had also brought good news. The UN and the US government wanted to pardon Cap and the others, but they also wanted them to sign the new Accords and Natasha and Tony both knew it would be a long shot. Then, something had happened at SI that had finally been resolved earlier that day. 

“The kid’s arm is already fixed. That healing factor of his could rival Steve’s. Vision and Rhodes are dealing with the amendments to the Accords. Pepper will take care of anything that comes up and the UN wanting to inspect this place doesn’t mean that you have to get it ready alone.”

Natasha watched him. His eyes were bloodshot and there were prominent bags under his eyes. As he tried to turn on the coffee machine his hands even shook. 

“Tony please go to bed. Peter’s coming in the morning and I don’t think you want him seeing you like this.”

Tony let out a groan and he hung his head. “Fine,” he said.

Natasha followed him all the way to his bedroom. 

“Although, it makes me question why you are up at this hour,” Tony said. 

“I’m heading to DC today, remember? I’m signing the new Accords and getting reinstated.”

It was going to be a very public affair and Natasha knew that Steve wouldn’t like it, but someone needed to take the plunge and sign this new version and also fight for the provisions that needed to be made in order to get Steve, Clint, Sam, Wanda, and Scott back. 

“It’s that day already,” Tony mumbled. 

Natasha watched him until he had crawled into bed and then she closed his bedroom door and hoped that he actually did get more than just a couple of hours of sleep. 

“Friday don’t let anything wake him for at least five hours.”

“Will do,” Friday said. 

Natasha gathered the few things she was bringing with her and headed over to the hangar. The new quinjets courtesy of Tony and T’Challa were ready for use and Natasha was a bit excited about taking one out finally. Tony had really gone out of his way to update everything in the compound and it made Natasha feel like Tony either expected the old team to come back or was trying to form a new one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I didn't actually want to write about Peter's parents except that they kind of snuck in and then it made sense that Tony would know at least one of them. I did go with his mother and it will come back up in the next chapter probably. Natasha was also not supposed to come back like she did but she needed to be the first one. 
> 
> Hope you liked it.  
> You can also find this on my tumblr: [Part Three](http://inawickedlittletown.tumblr.com/post/163774262682/whatever-it-takes-3)


	4. Part Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for not updating sooner. But I was in the middle of a huge renovation of my new house and then of course I was packing up and moving and am just now getting some time to do more than go to work and come home to more work. I'm still quite busy though so I don't know when the next chapter will come but hopefully the wait won't be too long but I really just don't know. thanks for reading.

“Sir, I have found some interesting information about Mary and Richard Parker,” Friday announced. 

Tony had forgotten all about the search he’d had Friday do. It had been a background thing that he’d left in the nonexistent hands of Friday and the information was suddenly in front of him and Tony turned away from his work on Cap’s shield to look at the display.

The files were from Shield from the data dump which was surprising at first until Tony realized that Friday had them up because he was looking at a report written by Richard Parker and next to it a lab sheet that had been signed by Mary Parker. They had been Shield agents. Tony leaned back against his work table. That had to mean that their deaths had been due to a mission. 

“Was there anything more specific about them?” Tony asked. 

“I’m afraid not, Sir,” Friday said, “it seems they kept a low profile.”

Tony nodded. He turned to look down at the shield. The paint had been sanded completely off and Tony had made work of fixing the scratches too with the materials sent over from Wakanda. Tony was really enjoying having King T’Challa’s direct number. 

“Music back on, Fri,” Tony said and he got back to work, making sure the Shield was back to what it looked like before. 

After the Shield, Tony worked on Clint’s new arrows, and then when he was bored of that, he turned to his newest Iron Man armor. 

It was the best preparation that Tony could have for whatever was coming next. His new armor was meant for the possibility that he might end up in space again. Tony was nothing if not prepared and an alien threat meant that things might take place away from Earth. He had also updated the new Spider-Man armor to function in space. It was just a precaution.

He didn’t hear the knock on his door because of the music and jumped when Natasha cleared her throat right behind him. 

Natasha laughed and walked to grab a stool while Friday turned down the music. Natasha dropped a packet of paper on the table and Tony rolled his eyes.

“Ever heard of digital copies?” 

“There’s probably one in your e-mail by now but you don’t really check that, do you?” She tilted her head and her blond hair hung over her shoulder like a curtain. 

“What is it, anyway?” Tony asked.

She smiled. “It’s the completed and approved version. They want us to present it to the rest of the team. They really want them to come home.”

Tony could see the hope in her eyes and Tony could admit that he missed the team too even if them coming back after everything made him anxious. He didn’t think he would be able to handle it if Clint was still blaming him for everything and especially if Steve thought that things could go back to how they used to be with him at the helm and Tony letting him take charge without much argument.

“Are you going to take it to them?” Tony asked.

Natasha shook her head and looked a bit sad about it. “I know it would go better if I did, but it would be stupid to give them up like this. I still don’t trust that the Raft won’t be used again or that they wouldn’t try to track me.”

Tony nodded. He hadn’t liked it one bit when he had to fly to the Raft to see them all behind bars and Wanda actually in a straight jacket. It was exactly what he had been trying to avoid by being the one to bring them in. He hadn’t been able to do anything to break them out or get them out legally, not with Ross there watching his every move and certainly not when there were other important things to take care of. It had always been Tony’s intention later but then Siberia happened and then Tony didn’t have the time or means for a moment and then Steve had done it instead. 

“Sir, Peter has arrived,” Friday said, “would you like me to invite him down here?”

“Yes, do that,” Tony said.

“I think this coming threat alone will make them sign it,” Tony said. 

Natasha sighed. “It’s not what you would have liked,” she said.

Tony looked straight at her, then. “No,” he said, “because I would have wanted this team to actually trust me and trust that I knew what I was saying and proposing. You understood and even then, even then, at the first chance you let them go because you are all loyal to Rogers.”

“This is literally the divorce that I never experienced my parents having,” Natasha said.

Tony couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Yeah, I guess,” he said, “and Steve got the kids. I got the house.”

Natasha grinned. “So you adopted a pet spider.”

Peter was getting out of the elevator as she spoke and Tony nodded. “He’s my favorite anyway.”

“May made cookies,” Peter announced as he walked in, “they’re from frozen dough so they’re actually pretty good.” 

Tony extended his hand out and Peter just handed him the plate which had been wrapped in so much plastic wrap that it took Tony a moment to get unwrapped to grab a cookie. He passed the plate on to Natasha and it was a show of good faith. 

\---

“This…it’s really happening,” Sam said. He was holding the inch thick packet that Natasha had sent them over. Steve held the tablet that Tony had sent over which didn’t diminish how long the new Accords were. 

According to Natasha they were long because they were far more individualized and because of all the clauses and amendments that were listed inside. Vision and T’Challa had made sure to detail everything extensively and Natasha had added her own notes. It was as if they were all trying to convince him and through him the rest of the fugitive Avengers that he needed to sign. 

Steve knew he had to sign it. He knew it was the only path especially since whatever new threat they were facing would matter far more. It was also possible that things would be different in the future and the Accords moot and unnecessary. 

“It is,” Steve said, “it’s our ticket home.”

Sam nodded. “I bet Stark’s loving this.”

“I’m not sure how he feels,” Steve said.

He had been keeping tabs on Tony since leaving Bucky in cryostasis even when they were on the run and hoping from country to country to keep themselves hidden, often separated. So, he knew that Tony had moved to the newly renovated compound, that Tony had gone to multiple UN meetings around the globe – and even been in the same place as Steve a few times at the same time. He knew that Tony had also solved some minor disasters and Stark Industries was rolling out new technologies faster than ever before including a brand new line of bio-mechanical prosthetics that seemed to be the very best in the market and Steve knew to be Tony’s response to what had happened to James Rhodes. 

Steve knew that Rhodey was not all better but that he could walk. He kept up with him and Vision and even Spider-Man who seemed to be based out of New York and wasn’t hugely involved with the Accords or even The Avengers even if Iron Man had been spotted helping him. Steve knew that Spider-Man was young, but he also knew he was capable. He had held his own against Steve. Bucky and Sam had spoken about how easily Spider-Man had been able to keep them down too. Still, Tony never officially announced him as an Avenger and he wasn’t even pushed into signing the Accords, and his somewhat low profile and hidden identity seemed to be completely intentional and Steve supposed it was useful. He remembered how Tony had immediately said no when Fury suggested they involve him too and it made Steve wonder about Spider-Man and why Tony seemed to be protecting him even from the things he himself supported. 

“Nat said that it’s better than before,” Sam said, “she seems to think they’re still the right thing to do.”

Steve shrugged his shoulders. “She also dyed her hair blond.”

Sam laughed and shook his head. “You don’t really take to change very well,” he stated and then, “Clint didn’t even read his. He’s flying to DC tonight and I think Lang will be joining him. They miss their kids.”

Steve nodded. It had been hard to watch Clint try and find a way back to Laura and the kids but being incapable of even getting in contact with her. His wife was probably still not willing to talk to him anyway, but worse, she was being watched closely. Steve regretted ever including him every time he saw his disappointed face when his wife didn’t pick up on the calls he was making to the phone that had been passed along to her. 

Lang was another one. He very clearly did not show that it upset him to be away from his daughter, but it was noticeable especially once Hope Van Dyne managed to meet up with them the few times she’s managed to get away. Lang handled it better, though, probably because of his time spent in jail away from his daughter. Still, it couldn’t have been easy.

“I think we should all go,” Steve said.

“You don’t want to read them completely?” Sam asked and he looked incredulous. 

“I will read them on the way, but Natasha wouldn’t have sent us anything unless she thought we would agree to them and we can’t make this any harder. We have to bring the team back together. I’ve made enough mistakes and I don’t want to make more.”

\---

“I bet you could probably do that course with no problem,” Ned said. 

Peter rolled his eyes. “Yeah, probably,” he said. 

American Ninja Warrior was literally the only thing on TV that was even a little bit worth watching that day and it was really only on because MJ had demanded an invitation to movie night and they couldn’t start without her and naturally she was late. 

“How’s training going anyway?” Ned asked. 

“Good,” Peter said, “Mr. Stark’s had me working with Karen a bit more and the hand to hand stuff is getting easier. They say that I’ll get more of a challenge once the rest of the team is back.”

Peter was sort of dreading it, but he hadn’t told Mr. Stark or Natasha. It was partly nerves on his part because those people were his heroes but also because the last time he’d seen any of them was in Berlin and Peter just knew that things wouldn’t be immediately alright between Mr. Stark and the rest of them. 

“Is that going to be soon,” Ned asked, eyes wide.

Peter shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know,” he said, “but there’s a possibility.”

Ned clapped his hands together. “If they do, you have to introduce me to Captain America. Peter, you have to.”

Peter got out of answering when MJ knocked on the door and Peter had to get up to open it. MJ had a pile of books in her arms but she grinned at him before stepping around him and setting them down on the nearest surface. 

“I stopped at this little book market on the way,” she explained, “so what are we watching and do we have snacks?”

“You could have brought snacks instead of books,” Ned said and MJ fixed him with a glare. 

It was the first time that they were hanging out with MJ outside of decathlon practice and school and Peter felt a little bit awkward about it. 

“I could have also decided to make you guys practice some questions instead of sitting around and watching some weird movie,” MJ said and sat down next to Ned on the couch.

"And we do have popcorn," Peter said, "unless you guys want to make the rest of the cookie dough May left."

MJ made a sound that sounded a bit like laughter but also could have been her choking. "Um, you have cookie dough and you don't want to eat it raw? What kind of person are you, Parker?" 

Peter shrugged. "Pretty average one," he mumbled and looked at Ned because so far his best friend had been completely silent but Ned was apparently on his phone and not even paying attention anymore. 

Peter gathered what snacks he could find in the pantries which really wasn't much because May hadn't shopped in a few weeks and he and May were so busy lately that they weren't ever home to actually enjoy any snack food. 

His finds included a half eaten bag of potato chips, a few mozzarella sticks, and the popcorn he'd mentioned earlier in kernel form because Uncle Ben had always preferred to pop it himself than the microwave stuff and it was what they used to do on family movie nights. Thinking about it made Peter a little sad but he set about making them popcorn anyway and was surprised when MJ joined him in the kitchen. She leaned against the counter. 

"I heard that your boss is welcoming back his teammates," MJ said, "I guess that means you'll be seeing more than just Spider-Man occasionally." She cocked her head to the side and Peter felt a moment of absolute panic. 

"I don't think so," he said, "and I, um, I only ever saw Spider-Man the one time."

MJ gave him something like a knowing look and then shrugged her shoulders. Peter couldn't help but notice that she was actually quite pretty. He shook the thought and put it somewhere where he wouldn't have to think about it. 

The corn began to pop, startling him and he glanced away from MJ back to Ned. 

"What are our choices tonight?"

"We have Fantastic Beasts, we could do Any Star Wars obviously, also Hercules snuck in probably my little brother put it in my bag, um, I have Back to the Future too."

MJ laughed. "I knew the two of you would be losers like this so I brought my own movies," she said and out of her bag brought out The Princess Bride and the new Ghostbusters because that felt like something the two of you might like.” She fixed them with a look.

Peter looked between the two them. "Anything is fine by me. You two can fight it out."

So began a long debate over what they could watch until they settled on The Princess Bride when Peter admitted he'd never seen it, but with the promise of watching Fantastic Beasts after. 

Halfway through the movie, Peter felt his phone buzz and he pulled it out even after MJ shot him a glare.

"Sorry," Peter mouthed. 

It was Natasha.

Black Widow: hey, kid, change of plans for training tomorrow. I'm going back to D.C.

Me: oh, alright. Is it to do with Cap and them returning? Will Mr. Stark be gone too? 

Black Widow: yes. I think he's sticking around. Question: why don't you call him Tony? 

Me: he's always just been Mr. Stark. It felt disrespectful to call him anything else and he hasn't exactly told me to call him by his first name so...

"Who are you even texting?" MJ asked in a whisper, "all your friends are here." 

"Someone from my internship," Peter said.

She eyed him before turning back to the screen. When he looked at his phone again there was another text. 

Black Widow: that's odd, he always corrects people. Maybe it's your age. 

Me: hey! I'm not that young. 

Black Widow: you can't drink or drive - you're young. A tiny spider. It's a good thing. See you when I get back, Spiderling.

Peter couldn't help the small smile as he put his phone away and tried to pay attention to the movie. MJ shot him a couple of glances from time to time, but seemed satisfied that he wasn’t distracted elsewhere. He actually became invested as Inigo Montoya and Westley began their sword fight. Peter couldn’t believe that he’d never seen the movie before. It really did have everything. Ned seemed to be enjoying it too despite his earlier protests. 

\- - -

Tony felt a bit annoyed with himself for not going with Natasha to Washington DC and yet at the same time he was glad to have stayed behind even if all it did was delay when he would end up seeing the others again. There was nothing to doubt that they were coming home and Tony actually had all their rooms cleaned and ready with everything they had left behind. He’d even put Cap’s shield scratch free right on Cap’s bed. 

The only thing that was helping him not sit around wallowing was Peter and how easy he made it for Tony to just ignore his work in favor or hanging out with him or just simply getting some work done in the lab. For all that Peter was genius level smart, he was also still learning. He knew a lot already from his own research and from his own interest at school, but Tony found it refreshing when he had to explain something to him because Peter was quick to pick things up, but also because he just cared so much that Tony knew it wasn’t a waste to teach Peter anything. 

Peter also didn’t seem keen on bringing up Steve or the others to him and Tony was grateful. He had enough with Rhodey and Pepper asking him how he was doing constantly. They were worried, he knew, but sometimes it felt overbearing. They also didn’t know the full story. They didn’t know that things were getting rushed because of Fury and because of a threat involving the infinity stones and aliens and space and so much that Tony didn’t want to think about. 

So for the three long days, Tony was in the lab usually with Peter and Tony for the most part gave him free reign to pick anything that he might want to work on. For a while it was the Spider-Man suit and improving on the web, but eventually Peter wanted to know more about the arc reactor technology and Tony’s armor. It served a nice distraction until Natasha let him know that everything was going well and they were headed home. It happened faster than Tony had expected and without any of the fanfare that he’d expected. 

It was barely covered in the news and Tony suspected that it was all on purpose. Natasha didn’t tell him when they would arrive, either, so Tony was alert for hours after Peter had been taken home by Happy when May demanded that she get see her nephew at least once in a while. 

They arrived after midnight and Tony had almost made himself forget about all of it by getting distracted working on one of his cars. 

He went out to meet them on the hangar and watched as Natasha got off the quinjet followed by Sam who nodded at Tony. Clint was next and he stepped out slowly and took a look around. It reminded Tony that Clint had only visited the compound once and that was before all the changes. He didn’t say anything, though. Wanda walked out with Steve and she looked every bit the young woman she was. In a way, her youth reminded Tony of Peter and how innocent he was except that he knew that unlike Peter, Wanda wasn’t all good. He didn’t know if it was her power – unnaturally attained through one of the infinity stones – or just who she was as a person, but Tony was aware that Wanda was dangerous, not fully trained, and that she was young but not a child. 

Steve still had the beard. He was in civilian clothes, just jeans and a too tight t-shirt and Tony hated how good he looked. 

“It’s good to be back,” he said. 

Tony nodded slowly and he opened his arms. “Yes,” he said, “welcome back. All your rooms are exactly where you left them and how you left them. I’ve installed Friday here so if you need anything that’s who to ask. I guess that’s all. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

He turned and walked back into the main building and walked until he could get to the nearest elevator to go below to the workshop and back to his cars. It was easier than dealing with any kind of confrontation. Tony was happy to have them back, but he couldn’t help but worry about how well the team would do together after everything especially considering the current threat. 

Tony wasn’t surprised when Natasha appeared in the workshop a few minutes later. 

“I think that went well,” she said, “they’re settling in.”

“Ah, good,” Tony said, “I expect Cap probably wants everyone to train in the morning or something.”

Natasha smiled. “Probably. He didn’t say anything. He seemed more melancholic than anything.”

“It must be hard to have left his Bucky behind,” Tony said. He walked around the workshop, looking at the latest improvements to the suit that Peter had turned down because making it space proof was not enough. Tony was still making it better and improving upon it because he knew that when it came to the latest threat that nothing would keep Peter away and he was going to need to use the new suit if for nothing else than to make Tony worry less. 

“Tony,” Natasha said and it sounded like a warning. 

Tony looked at her then. “What?” He asked. “Am I supposed to pretend that he didn’t choose Bucky over…”

“Over you,” Natasha finished with a sad smile. “It’s more complicated than that and you know it.”

Tony did know, but he was also well aware that Steve had had multiple choices. That Tony had offered to help Bucky if he just signed and that Tony had meant it. Had wanted nothing else than to keep the team together Bucky and all but Steve had known about Tony’s parents and maybe that and his stubbornness had made him wary of putting his friend’s life in Tony’s hands. He hadn’t trusted Tony. He never did. If he had, then maybe he wouldn’t have lied to him. 

“Well he’s signed them now,” Tony said, “and the team is back. It’s what the two of us wanted from the beginning. We just lost a lot to get to this point.”

“Yes,” Natasha said, “but it doesn’t mean we can’t get it all back. He wants – he needs to speak to you, Tony, and you need to speak with him.”

Tony didn’t know if he could. It had been one thing to see him in D.C. and another to seek him out and actually try and talk things through. Tony had never been the kind of person to do that.

“You’ll have to eventually, Tony,” Natasha said, “if we want this team to be remotely on the same page you’ll need to or it’ll be pointless to have us all together again.”

Tony had been thinking about it a lot and a part of him knew that she was right but another part of him also knew that in the end they might not need to be together but need to split up. If the stones were important then they would need to be split and they would need to guard them.

“Maybe tomorrow,” Tony hedged.

Natasha eyed him and then she shook her head.

\- - -

There was only one tiny notice on the news about the return of Captain America and co. Peter despite knowing that it was happening just didn’t expect it when he heard the morning show anchor mention it almost as an aside before he moved on to cover something else. 

“They’re back,” May said, “I guess that means you can hang up the spandex, Pete.”

Peter could tell that she said it with some hope and yet she didn’t look like she thought that Peter would actually do it.

“Those guys save the world, May,” Peter said, “I save the regular person.”

She sighed. 

Peter hadn’t heard from Mr. Stark all day which he supposed was due to the return of the rest of The Avengers even if Peter knew that Mr. Stark was not necessarily thrilled about it. He pulled out his phone just to see if he’d missed any texts but aside from Ned texting him about chemistry and MJ sending him emoticons and random gifs there was nothing. Not even Natasha had sent anything. 

“Well at least don’t do any saving until school’s out,” May said, “and let me know if Stark kidnaps you. I swear, you spend more time upstate than you do here.”

“He did give me a bedroom,” Peter responded as he got up and gathered his things for school. It was an odd morning when he actually had time for breakfast and with May no less.

May shook her head at him. “That doesn’t mean you have to use it more than the one you have here.” Still, she looked more amused than anything and Peter was well aware that while May worried she wouldn’t make him stop being Spider-Man. 

May had always been lenient and understanding about nearly everything in a way that Peter supposed that normal parents weren’t. She worried, of course, and got especially more worried after Ben died, but it never stopped her from respecting that Peter was a person with opinions and choices and that she couldn’t control every minute of his life. Sometimes, it made Peter wonder if it was her way of trying to make up for the death of his parents and then later Ben.

School was the usual. Peter wasn’t really challenged by any of what they were learning and to top it off all everyone could talk about was the return of the Avengers. Ned had at least stopped asking if Peter had met any of them once he realized that Peter hadn’t and didn’t want to talk about it. 

When his final class ended, Peter made quick work of getting to his locker, grabbing all the books he might need and then running out past all the other students to the front door. He wasn’t expecting to see Happy parked right outside and leaning against the Rolls Royce. 

“What are you doing here, Happy?” Peter asked as he approached. “I mean, not that I’m not happy to see you because I am but I just didn’t expect you and Mr. Stark didn’t say anything and—”

Happy shook his head, a little exasperated, “Just get in the car, Parker.”

“Oh, yeah, sure. Where are we going anyway?”

Happy walked around the car and got into the driver’s seat without an answer so Peter got into the back. 

“Compound, kid,” Happy said and then, “let your aunt know you’ll be home late.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to everyone that's read this so far. 
> 
> You can find this on my tumblr: [Part Four](http://inawickedlittletown.tumblr.com/post/169212361977/whatever-it-takes-4)


	5. Part Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone had a good holiday season. I definitely did and the end hopefully means that things will slow down for me and give me more writing time. In other news I have officially finished writing and editing my first original book and I am super excited for the next few steps in trying to figure out what comes next on the road to getting it out in the world. 
> 
> This chapter went to a few places I didn't intend it to but I like what came out of it. Enjoy.

Peter had been at the Avengers Compound so often that nothing about it ever really amazed him anymore. Happy walked him inside even though Peter had his own access codes, but he didn’t stick around for longer than that. 

“Hello, Peter,” Friday greeted him, “Sir is waiting for you in the workshop.”

“Thanks, Friday,” Peter mumbled and made his way to the workshop and hoped that he wouldn’t run into any of the returned Avengers on the way. So of course, it was as he approached the door to the workshop that he spotted Captain America right at the door. 

The door didn’t open for the Captain and Peter was rooted to the spot watching him. He was in his civilian clothing, a t-shirt and jeans which made him odd to look at for Peter who had first seen him in person in uniform and watched him all the time in those Captain America clips from school. 

“Come on, Friday, let me in. I need to speak with Tony,” Cap said, looking up at the ceiling. 

“I am sorry. Sir does not want to be disturbed.”

Peter didn’t know if he should step forward or not. Mr. Stark was waiting for him, but Peter could tell that he didn’t want to deal with the Captain. Not knowing what to do, Peter pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Mr. Stark who turned around. The Captain immediately tried to get Mr. Stark’s attention but Peter could tell that Mr. Stark was trying not to look at him as he walked to the door. 

“Tony,” Cap began, “we really need to—” 

“Not now, Cap,” Mr. Stark said, “I only came out to let my intern in. Come on, Pete.”

Peter rushed forward and tried to avoid looking at the Captain. He walked past Mr. Stark and turned to see Mr. Stark lean on the door a bit. 

“Cap – Steve, I am glad you’re back. I’m glad you’re all back and we will talk soon. I’ll – I’ll find you later.”

Mr. Stark didn’t wait for the Captain to respond. Instead he let the door close behind him and Peter watched him let out a breath and shake himself. 

The Captain hung around outside the door for a while longer until he turned and left and Peter thought that he saw something like longing in the look he gave the workshop or perhaps Mr. Stark himself.

“We were good friends once,” Mr. Stark said suddenly, “I miss that sometimes even though he really did betray my trust.”

Peter didn’t know what to say to that, so he said nothing and instead put his stuff down.

“Anyway,” Mr. Stark said, “I had hoped none of them would see you but I forgot how persistent Cap can be. We have to talk about your secret identity.”

Peter stared at him for a long moment. “Natasha knows who I am,” he said. 

“Yes, but none of the others do and either way there’s nothing anyone can hide from her so it’s not worth trying. I just didn’t want to give you up to the rest of them if you didn’t want them to know.”

Peter hadn’t even know that he had any kind of option. “What would you do?” Peter asked. 

“Well, I announced that I was Iron Man at a conference where I was supposed to deny and provide an alibi so I’m not the best example. It’s up to you if you want them to know but I still think you need to meet them and you could do that as Spider-man or Peter Parker. It’s up to you.”

It was tempting to keep his identity secret and yet Peter knew that he would just give himself away eventually. He couldn’t be in his suit all the time while at the compound and eventually they would all wonder about Mr. Stark having an intern. They would figure it out and secrets were clearly not handled well with the Avengers.

“I think they should know,” Peter said, “I think I can trust them with that, right?” 

Mr. Stark nodded. “Yes, they wouldn’t put you in danger deliberately.”

Peter was watching Mr. Stark as he moved back to whatever he’d been working on before he was interrupted. 

“How, um, how has it been having them back?” Peter asked. 

Mr. Stark walked towards the holographic files he’d left open. “I haven’t spent too much time with them,” he admitted, “which is why Steve seems to keep showing up outside the workshop.” He paused and turned to look at Peter and he motioned him over. “I hated that he kept me in the dark about something important to my past,” Mr. Stark said, “so I don’t want to do that to you.”

Peter was getting a little worried. When Happy had told him they were headed to the compound, Peter had just supposed that he was finally going to meet The Avengers. He didn’t know there was another reason for the meeting.

“I told you that I knew your mother,” Mr. Stark said. 

“Yes,” Peter said, “I’ve been looking at her papers and she was so smart.”

Mr. Stark smiled. “That she was. I had Friday search for more information on her and Richard.”

Peter who had been ready to launch into the questions he’d had about his mother’s work, stopped and stared at Mr. Stark. He hadn’t expected that Mr. Stark would look into his parents or that looking into them would lead him anywhere.

“What do you mean?” Peter asked.

“I was curious about them,” Mr. Stark answered. “I was curious about your mother mostly and I wanted to know just what she went on to do. I found something else instead.

Mr. Stark dropped a hand to Peter’s shoulder and Peter was beginning to fear the worst. “What is it, then? What did you find?”

Peter braced himself for it, whatever it was. 

“As it turns out they worked for Shield,” Mr. Stark said, “they were Shield agents.”

Peter didn’t know what to say. He opened and closed his mouth but nothing came out and instead he just looked up to Mr. Stark. It was the last thing that Peter had expected. His mind had gone to a few different places but not that. He couldn’t believe it. 

“I’m trying to find out more,” Mr. Stark said, “but it seems that whatever they worked on was classified. There must be something in the files that Cap and Nat made public but there’s a lot there to go through. I can tell you that it’s likely they died while on a mission.”

Peter gasped. Plane crash. It had always just been a plane crash while on a business trip. Peter had never really been able to understand it because there had never been any news report on their plane. For some time Peter had even considered that his parents had just left him behind. And for some time Peter had even liked that better just because then it meant that they weren’t dead. May and Ben had always insisted that his parents loved him, though, and there had always been stories and pictures to prove it and Peter had known then that his mother and father would never have stayed away so long. His parents working for Shield made sense. Mr. Stark’s hand fell away from his shoulder and his arm instead went around Peter’s shoulders. Peter leaned against Mr. Stark and the shock started to wear off a little. Still, he allowed Mr. Stark to pull him into a proper hug. 

\----

The thing about being back that felt weird to Steve was that nothing was the same. The compound wasn’t the same, the people working there were mostly not the same and it felt nothing like coming home. It felt like he was just merely a guest and when it came to Tony an unwanted guest at that.

He was still trying to figure out the whole purpose of Tony’s intern as he went up the elevator. It had surprised Steve when the boy had been able to appear behind him without Steve taking notice. No one should have been able to do that to him and yet maybe he was so distracted by Tony and the fact that he had been back for over two days and still hadn’t been able to speak to the man that he was losing awareness for his surroundings. He should never have been caught unawares. It was just that he was so desperate to speak to Tony and Tony had actually turned around and opened the door. It just hadn’t been because of him. It had been because of the intern. At least there was the possibility that Tony would seek him out later. Steve wasn’t sure it would happen, but he could let himself hope. 

The elevator door opened on the communal floor and he stepped out. Sam and Nat were sitting in front of the tv but instead of watching tv, they were in the middle of what seemed to be a game of Uno. 

“Green,” Sam announced, “and pick up four.”

Natasha glanced Steve’s way and then continued on with the game. 

“Any luck?” Sam asked, noticing Steve.

“I told him not to even try,” Natasha said and put down a card, “Tony will speak to you when he wants to, but he will speak with you. You standing outside his workshop is just going to make him hide more.”

Steve walked to sit down on the recliner. “It was worth a try and he actually said we would speak soon. So since when does he have an intern?”

Natasha paused as she put down another card and Steve and Sam shared a glance because Natasha was never quick to not give an answer when it was about something as simple as this. There was more to the intern. There had to be.

“Oh, must be Peter,” Natasha said, “he’s a good kid. Smart.”

Steve walked past them towards the kitchen and as always it was well stocked. He prepared a quick snack and went back into the sitting room to see Natasha finish the game by winning.

“But what does he do? The intern, I mean?” Sam asked. “I never pegged for Tony as one to want an intern. He’s not really one to work with help. What does the boy even do?”

“Whatever Tony needs,” Natasha said, “I don’t know. I just know he’s a pretty decent kid and that he keeps up with Tony.”

Steve supposed that it was good that Tony hadn’t been all on his own. If the intern did the least in keeping him company, that would have to be enough. Vision had of course been around and so had Rhodes but they had their own concerns and their own problems and Steve was well aware that the two of them had been very involved in the changing of The Accords and as such they hadn’t always been at The Compound with Tony. 

Sam stood up and stretched. “Call me if anything exciting happens. I promised to give my mom a call.”

Steve watched his friend walk away and then he looked to Natasha. “Things aren’t going back to the way they were before, are they?”

“Did you really expect them to?” Natasha asked. “It was a different time back then. The team was coming together and we all didn’t necessarily like each other but we at least respected one another and we weren’t close enough for secrets to sting the way they did later.” 

“I guess I expected coming back to feel different than it does right now. We need the team to be on the same page, I guess, and for that we need to be able to work together and to trust one another.”

Natasha seemed to scrutinize him for a long moment and then she gave a nod. “I think you mean that. I think you really do mean it and I agree. We need to be together on this. And I do I think Tony is willing to forgive. He must be. You just – don’t push him, Steve, and admit your own fault. Don’t be stubborn on this because you have to know that Tony has always done what he has thought best and not just for himself but for everyone.”

Steve didn’t know how to respond. He knew, of course he knew that Tony always meant well and yet after Ultron, Steve couldn’t deny that a part of him wondered about Tony’s judgment.

“But sometimes what he doesn’t isn’t the best,” Steve said.

Natasha rolled her eyes. “Should I remind you that you tore this team apart for your best friend without a care for what anyone else might want or feel including 117 countries and the UN? Who benefitted from that?”

Steve sighed and tilted his head to one side. “He wasn’t to blame and you and Tony were ready to destroy everything anyway and put him in a cell.”

“That’s not how it would have gone and you know it,” Natasha said, “and it is your secrets that have hurt Tony far more than any of your selfish choices. After Ultron he left the Avengers and he did everything he could to make up for his mistake. Now it’s your turn and Tony deserves a proper apology. You better give him one.”

She didn’t wait for Steve to respond and instead got up and walked away and Steve was left feeling like Natasha understood more about Tony and perhaps even himself than Steve ever had. It was in those moments that he wished that he had Bucky at his side. His Bucky. The Bucky that he’d known way back in the past before he was Captain America and before Bucky had fallen off the train. That Bucky would have known how to get Steve on the right track, he probably would never have allowed Steve to act as despicably as he had. 

\---

Tony could tell that Peter was still a bit shaken as they left the workshop and made their way to a few rooms that Tony had set aside next to the workshop for the nights when he didn’t feel like going up to the bedroom he had in the communal space. It had seemed like the only thing to do after Peter let him go. He just looked so lost and Tony had yet to find a comfortable sofa for the workshop. Peter didn’t protest when Tony steered him out of the workshop – glad to see that Steve wasn’t waiting for him there anymore. The door was hidden as part of the wall and Tony had to ask Friday to open it. She would only do so for Tony or whoever else he gave permission to. At the moment that was only himself, Pepper, and Rhodey. 

Tony led him towards the small sitting area and let Peter sit and watched him while he fetched a water bottle from the mini-fridge. Peter was a strong kid and yet Tony couldn’t help but worry. His entire world had just changed in the course of the last few minutes and Tony knew firsthand how difficult it could be. But that was exactly the same reason that Tony had felt so strongly that Peter needed to know. He was the one that had the most right to the information. 

“I don’t know what to think about them, anymore,” Peter said eventually.

Tony took in a breath and handed Peter the water bottle. “You think of them in the same way as before. Nothing has changed in the perception that you have of them. You just know more about them now.”

Tony knew that his answer wasn’t exactly enough but it was the truth and the truth was better than coddling. Peter didn’t deserve that. He just needed the time to come to terms with it and Tony knew that it wouldn’t take him long.

“Right,” Peter said, “I mean I knew they worked a lot but it was never a huge concern for me. May and Ben they always told me my parents were smart. That I took after them and I guess that’s still true, right? They had to be some level of genius to be with Shield.”

Tony nodded and took a seat next to him. “Yeah. You know how smart your mom was.”

“And if they were Shield then that means they were the good guys. They would understand why I do what I do.”

Tony hoped that was the truth but in all honesty, Tony just didn’t know. He didn’t know if Mary and Richard Parker had been true Shield agents or if they had been corrupted and actually members of Hydra. He hoped that Friday would shed more light on that for him and yet at the same time he wanted to just not know and accept that perhaps they were the good guys. He couldn’t imagine that Peter could have come from anything but good people. 

“They would,” Tony said, “they would understand, but I doubt that they would want this life for you.”

Peter gave a nod. “I’m – thank you for not keeping this from me.” He glanced up at Tony and the gratitude in his eyes made Tony wish yet again that Peter had had a more normal life. 

“I sent May a text,” Tony said, “told her you’re staying the night.”

“Did she respond?” Peter asked. “She isn’t too happy with me staying over here all the time. I think it’s partly worry but also she tends to get lonely and I’m the only person she has left. We’ve had only each other since Ben died.”

Tony hadn’t really considered that he was taking Peter away from May too often. It’s just that May had never expressed any annoyance at Peter being at the compound all the time. 

“We could make these visits a bit less close together,” Tony said, “maybe every other weekend and of course whenever Spider-man is necessary.”

Peter made a face. “Every weekend unless I’m busy,” Peter countered, “but maybe we could cut back on the weekdays.”

Tony didn’t really think about Peter needing to attend school every day. Peter often seemed so much older in intellect that Tony forgot that he was still in high school and still trying to be as much a regular person as possible. It was something that Tony actually wanted to encourage. He didn’t want Peter to give all of himself to Spider-Man. He needed be something else too.

“That sounds like a plan,” Tony said, “now are you feeling up to meeting the rest of the Avengers? I’m sure we can round them up and then I can try and avoid talking to Cap again.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Mr. Stark, you are one of the bravest men I know and yet you’re afraid to speak with Captain America. Would it help if I told you that he made a bunch of stay in school PSAs that are still being used in schools to this day?”

Tony had been in the process of getting himself a quick drink, but he paused and turned to look at Peter. “Why have you not mentioned this before? Friday, find those please.”

It didn’t take Friday long and then she had them up on the mounted tv screen on the wall and one look at the paused video made him smirk. It was Cap, but it wasn’t just Cap as Tony knew him these days, it was Cap from back around the time the Avengers had first formed in that first ridiculous uniform that looked more like it was meant to be used for a circus show than saving the day. 

“Play, Fri,” Tony said.

The video began and it was Steve waving his finger and reading from what must have been a cue card. He looked adorably confused and embarrassed and Tony knew that this was the product of something Shield had made him do. The first video clip played and then the next and Tony laughed out loud when it came to a safe sex video because he could see the blush beginning on Steve’s face right under the cowl. 

Peter laughed next to him and Tony felt like someone had finally figured out just how to make him happy because seeing Cap so uncomfortable and still trying his best to impart knowledge and expectations on children and teenagers made Tony feel a lot better about finally having that conversation with Steve. It made him feel like it was possible to put the past behind them.

“Mr. Stark, you’re getting too much joy out of seeing this,” Peter pointed out. 

“But this is hilarious,” Tony said, “it’s the best thing I’ve seen in a while. In fact, Friday, I want you to save all of these and to have them ready for whenever I need to make a point.”

“Mr. Stark, I didn’t mention these so you would use them against Captain America. You really shouldn’t.”

The thing was that Peter wouldn’t get it. He wouldn’t understand that it was funny because the Cap in those videos was new to their times, confused and probably unaware that he could have said no to making them in the first place. Tony had never realized how quick Shield had been to try and make Steve Rogers into their dancing monkey and it was a bit sad to see the results of that. At the same time, it was funny to watch Steve because he had that seriousness that had first made Tony dislike the man. Of course underneath all that, Steve was a completely different person and yet this captured everything that Tony had first seen and turned it on its head because Tony now knew him and understood him and knew how much he would have hated to stand in front of a camera to recite words that weren’t his own.

“Come on, Spider-kid, I think it’s time you met them officially.”

“It’s Spider-Man, but alright,” Peter mumbled.

Tony laughed. “Friday, can you get everyone to gather in the living room.”

\---

The last time that Peter had seen the Avengers it had been back at that airport and there had been more things to worry about then than fanboying even though of course his internal monologue would have told otherwise.

Since then, he had property met Natasha, James Rhodes, and The Vision so he felt a little more prepared to face the rest of them. It also helped that to a certain extent, Peter no longer really looked up to them as his heroes. He knew that they had flaws and that they often made the wrong choices and he was intimately aware of how easily their choices could hurt others. 

Still, that didn’t stop him from feeling a bit nervous. He could tell that even despite the Cap videos he had told Mr. Stark about, that Mr. Stark was still not feeling particularly great about having any kind of conversation with Captain America.

“So is he still Captain America?” Peter asked. “I mean with him being a fugitive and everything. Although I guess that’s no longer the case anymore since he’s back and all. But is he taking the name back or do you think he wants to be called something else?”

Mr. Stark turned to look at him and frowned as if he hadn’t thought to ask that himself.

“He is Steve Rogers and that makes him Cap but I don’t know what he would label himself if that or something else. He did leave the shield, after all. I don’t know that he will pick it back up.”

They went up to the main floor and Peter spotted Natasha first. She had a tablet held in one hand, but it lost her attention as they entered. Next to her sat Hawkeye and Peter felt a bit awestruck at actually seeing him. 

“Ready to face us, then,” Hawkeye said. 

Natasha elbowed him.

Vision stood off to the side and with him was Scarlet Witch. Peter didn’t know much about her except that she was powerful and that she hadn’t been holding back at the airport unlike everyone else. Peter was also well aware of how much she was at fault for what happened at Lagos and he suspected in other missions too. 

He recognized Falcon and it reminded him of the way that he had held the man and The Winter Soldier at bay for some time. There was an unfamiliar man next to him and Peter couldn’t really place him even though he knew that he must have been present at the airport. Then, sat Captain America, and he seemed to be keeping his emotions at bay. 

“I was not un-ready,” Mr. Stark said, “just busy.”

“And who’s this, then?” Hawkeye asked and motioned towards Peter. 

Peter gulped and he felt Mr. Stark’s hand come to his shoulder again. “This is Peter Parker,” Mr. Stark said, “and you’re all here to meet him.”

“Why are we meeting your intern?” Captain America said. He looked genuinely interested. 

“Well, because he is not my intern. Doesn’t have the time for it, really, even if he would make a good one,” Mr. Stark said. 

Peter looked around and caught Natasha’s stare. She gave him a small smile which was enough for Peter to step forward. 

“I’m not Mr. Stark’s intern. I’m Spider-Man,” Peter announced. 

At first they were all too shocked to speak and then Captain America let out a small noise.

“I should have realized,” he said, “of course you’re Spider-Man.”

“He’s a kid,” the unfamiliar man said.

Hawkeye shook his head. “I guess that doesn’t really matter to Tony Stark. He just needed someone else to set against us and why not a kid.”

“I was more than capable—” Peter began but Mr. Stark shook his head.

“All of you shut it,” Natasha said and then, “he is young, obviously, which is why Peter is not an Avenger. Not yet.”

Everyone quieted down. Peter was not entirely surprised at how they all listened to her. 

Mr. Stark nodded. “That’s right,” he said, “but we felt you should know about him and his identity which is a secret. That was his choice and I hope I don’t regret letting him make it. Peter is an Avenger in training and I think in the coming years there will be others.”

No one commented on the last. Natasha who had stood up moved towards Peter. “So, let’s get you some introductions,” she said and started with Hawkeye. 

“Yo,” Hawkeye said with a salute, “call me Clint, by the way, Peter.”

Next came Falcon, or Sam, then Wanda who gave him a small wave and a smile but still scared Peter a little. The unfamiliar guy was named Scott and Peter had never heard of Ant-Man before but he remembered him as the guy that had gotten really big in the middle of the fight. 

Captain America actually shook his hand when it came to his turn. “Call me Steve, kid,” he said, “I think I’d like to see what you can do in a better environment this time.”

“He’s good,” Sam said, piping in, “I didn’t expect you were so young but you had me and Bucky for a while there.”

“You got away in the end,” Peter said and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Barely,” Sam said with a smile, “it’s good we’re on the same side.”

Steve spoke up, then. “No, Sam’s right. You are good. I can understand why Tony brought you to Germany. But you are so young. I didn’t think you were this young.” He glanced towards Mr. Stark. 

“Which is why he’s not on the team,” Mr. Stark said, “and he won’t be – not unless it’s truly necessary.”

“If that is all, Stark, then I should get back to what I was working on,” Clint said, “unless you want to have a proper team meeting or something.”

Peter couldn’t imagine that Clint had anything he was actually working on, but either way he was glad that the introductions were over. Things would only get easier from there. Clint was the first to go, but the others decided it was a good time too and it was clear that any other Avengers business would be discussed at another time. Wanda and Vision left together and Scott stood up and excused himself as well.

After Scott left, Natasha looked between Steve and Mr. Stark. “I think this is the perfect time for the two of you two finally speak, so I will take Peter and we can back to our training. How about it, Spiderling?”

Peter nodded eagerly. He glanced at Mr. Stark once and could tell that he still wasn’t thrilled, but he wasn’t running away either and that had to be enough. As he and Natasha got into the elevator, Peter’s eyes strayed towards Captain America and found almost a similar look on him.

“Getting those two to get along took long enough the first time and now there’s all this history,” Natasha said as the elevator doors closed.

“Do you think things will work out? Will they be friends again or at least get along?”

Natasha smiled a little. “I don’t know. Too much has happened and yet they’re too obsessed with each other to ever let it go and who knows if it’ll matter anyway in the end.”

Peter stared at her. “What do you mean?”

She shook her head. “Nothing for you to worry about, Peter. Have you been practicing that spider sense of yours lately?”

Peter knew that she had meant something and he suddenly had the thought that perhaps the return of The Avengers was to do with whatever it was because it had happened so quickly and even Peter knew that it should have taken much longer for them to return and for Mr. Stark to accept them back. It would also explain how little coverage the media had given it. They wanted to keep it as quiet as possible without actually hiding it. 

Natasha led him to the training room and Peter went to change into the training suit that Mr. Stark had made him. It was similar to his regular Spider-Man suit but it was grey, didn’t have Karen, and mostly just let Peter focus on the physical training aspect of things. 

She tried to sweep him off his feet as soon as he stepped out, but Peter jumped out of the way and fell into a roll and then he focused on Natasha instead of what may or may not be happening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone that left me comments on the last chapter. You guys are the best.   
> This story can also be found over at my tumblr (and you guys are more than welcome to go show me some love and encouragement to get the next chapter out over there): [Part Five](http://inawickedlittletown.tumblr.com/post/169214086782/whatever-it-takes-5)


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